Several new developments jeopardize the success Big Pharma. Patents known blockbusters reached expiration and generic manufacturers were looking forward to lower prices up. Throughout the world, governments have to play a more active role in determining the price at which the drug can be sold. Expansion of public insurance programs adding complexity marketing tasks. Another change involved a shift towards direct advertising to the customer, including the dissemination of information on the Internet, in addition to the traditional sales process of visits to family physicians. Funding for research has doubled since 1991, but the number of new drugs emerging each year has fallen by half. Research and development process has also changed dramatically. While blockbusters have been designed as general methods for the treatment of common diseases, it is becoming increasingly clear that not all patients respond the same way to these drugs, and some - albeit a very small percentage - the serious side effects. This reality is expected to lead to a much larger number of niche products, each of which focuses on a narrow group of patients. In this regard, the development of the growth of biopharmaceuticals, in which new biotech companies was the creation of drugs that could attack specific cells. Some analysts believe that Big Pharma was a sort of predicament that profits were still very large, and it has been difficult to make the necessary changes in strategy. "Hide
by David W. Conklin, Murray J. Bryant, Daniel Cadieux Source: Richard Ivey School of Business Foundation 17 pages. Publication Date: August 12, 2005. Prod. #: 905M47-PDF-ENG
