Pharma Focus Congress 2010

The pharmaceutical industry is at a pivotal point in its evolution.

The increasing pressure on cost and R&D has pushed the multi-national companies to turn their eyes on the emerging markets. However, the inevitable concerns are about the intellectual property rights (IPR), the lack of innovation and the nonstandard operations during drug discoveries and development. The business success lies on leveraging both the short-term and long-term strategies to drive the business smoothly and sustain the increasing point and competitive advantage. For the emerging market like China, whether be able to meet the requirement of the investors and grasp the opportunity decides its development and status on the global industrial market, as well as the chance for the leap of the local pharmaceutical companies.

Another big challenge for the pharmaceutical companies, especially the multi-national giants is the patent drug expiration. The patent on many of the medicines launched expire these years, leaving these companies exposed and vulnerable facing the flood of the generics. For the multi-national pharmaceutical companies, the strategic products portfolio is needed to balance the market status and the vast input of the time, energy and capital, as well as the risk of failure; while for the middle and small sized companies, taking this chance could be a milestone for the business success.

Biopharmaceuticals have been recognized as the future of the industry, but its current business model is not economically stable, and the chemical-based drug is still the mainstream on the market. The overlook to the future of the pharmaceutical market and the roadmap from the chemical pharmaceutical to the biopharmaceutical is well worth discussing.

The congress will also examine the various forms of collaboration between pharmaceutical companies; the pharmaceutical companies with Clinical Research Organizations (CRO) and academic institutions—how M&A, col