Dive Brief:
- Even as a large spate of patent expiries hurt the biopharma sector's profitability, the demand for low-cost substitutes has increased, according to a report from Transparency Market Research.
- According to the report, the API sector focusing on biologics is growing the fastest.
- The API market is huge, with more than 2,500 companies active in this space. It is also highly fragmented.
Dive Insight:
The report revealed several interesting facts, including that pharma companies are increasingly relying on API contract manufacturing versus using an in-house approach, as well as the fact that biosimilar approvals have further fueled this process.
In addition, the global API market, which was $119.7 billion in 2014, is predicted to reach $185.9 billion by 2020 as the generics sector continues to expand rapidly. Another contributing factor to the growth of the API market is the growth in filing drug master files from various Indian drugmakers.
One factor that could potentially staunch the trend? Restrictive regulatory policies in the EU.