Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Industry Profile

Companies in this industry manufacture and process pharmaceutical products. Major companies include Abbott, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, Johnson & Johnson, and Pfizer (all based in the US); Bayer (Germany); GlaxoSmithKline (UK); Novartis and Roche Holding (Switzerland); and Sanofi (France).

The global pharmaceutical manufacturing industry generates more than $950 billion in annual revenue. Leading pharmaceutical-producing countries include France, Germany, Switzerland, and the UK. The US and the EU remain the largest importers of pharmaceuticals, but manufacturers are targeting emerging economies for growth.

The US pharmaceutical manufacturing industry includes about 1,500 companies with combined annual revenue of about $200 billion and is expected to grow at a moderate rate in the next two years. Key growth drivers include technological innovation and government policies.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Demand for pharmaceuticals is driven by the desire to cure illness and disease. The profitability of individual companies depends on their ability to discover and market new drugs. Large companies benefit from their economies of scale in research, manufacturing, and marketing. Small companies can compete effectively by specializing in drugs that target one or two specific ailments. The US industry is highly concentrated: the 50 largest companies account for more than 80 percent of revenue.

The pharmaceutical manufacturing industry is marked by rapid advances in scientific knowledge that produce ever-more effective medicines. The traditional drug manufacturing industry increasingly overlaps with the biotechnology industry, which is a source of many ...