Gobal Pharmaceutical Sales Increases Slow Down

Worldwide prescription drug industry sales last year grew at their slowest rate since 1998, hurt by government pressure to reduce prices, concerns over drug safety and competition from cheap generics, according to data from IMS Health. Global sales rose 7 percent in 2004 to $550 billion, of which nearly 45 percent came from North America. In 2003, sales grew 10 percent. The decline reflects the continuing woes of an industry beset by the loss of patent protection on some of its biggest-selling drugs, a dearth of new products, price pressure and slowing earnings growth. While 82 drugs had annual sales of more than $1 billion in 2004, 17 more than the year before, 11 came from biotechnology companies and 12 were drugs treating specialist diseases such as cancer, schizophrenia and HIV.

Back to news