Dive Brief:
- According to a new Thomson Reuters report, pharmacuetical sales are poised to grow from $1 trillion in 2014 to $1.3 trillion in 2018.
- The sales growth will be driven by new product launches, more successful clinical trials, and burgeoning international sales, according to the report.
- In 2014, 46 new molecular entitites (NMEs) were launched internationally—the highest in the last 10 years.
Dive Insight:
The latest report from the Intellectual Property and Science business of Thomas Reuters, the 2015 CMR Pharmaceutical R&D Factbook, has a lot of good news to offer. Not only are biopharma sales increasing globally, but pipelines are strong, especially in immuno-oncology. In fact, analysts are looking for more game-changing therapies, such as BMS' Opdivo and Merck's Keytruda, which were positively disruptive in 2014, to set the stage for a new era in oncology.
In addition, there has been a vast improvment in clinical trial design and efficiency, leading to a lower failure rate. Specifically, in the last three years, there have been 56 so-called "failures"—drugs in phase III development that were discontinued, compared with 68 between 2009 and 2011. Plus, regulators are approving drugs more quickly than before, thanks in part in the U.S. to greater use of fast-track programs.
The biggest turnaround has been in Japan, where the average approval time has decreased from over 800 days in 2006 to just 306 days in 2014. All told, the report concludes that things are looking great for the industry despite continuing challenges such as pushback from payers.
For more information, or to order a copy of the 2015 CMR Pharmaceutical R&D Factbook, check out Thomson Reuter's executive overview.