Analysis of 4 periods between 1991 and 2009. The survey involved a total of 466 new substances. It has also been highlighted that the total cost of drug development 'devours' an ever-increasing portion of overall revenues
Barbara Di Chiara – 6 February 2015 – PharmaKronos
The golden age of profits is over for pharmaceutical companies. This was confirmed by a study conducted by the IMS Institute for Health Informatics and by the famous Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), which provides an important contribution to the discussion on innovative medicines.
in work, published in the journal 'Health Affairs', the authors compare four periods between 1991 and 2009 including both small molecules and biologics. The survey covered a total of 466 new substances.
While the aggregated data would suggest strong economic performance, the researchers found that three-quarters of approved drugs made less than $4.5 billion during their patent coverage period, while half earned less than $1 billion. .5 billion dollars. Taking into account the costs required to develop and launch these drugs, amounting to as much as $2 billion in some cases, the results appear less strong than one would expect.
Scholars have noticed that it is possible to anticipate the sales trajectory of a drug based on its performance in the first 6 months of presence on the market. And it found that even though early indications were that sales of biologics would outpace those of small molecules, the lead narrowed: Biopharma peaked at $7.7 billion between 1995 and 1998 for then drop to 2.9 billion between 2005 and 2009.
It has also been highlighted that the total cost of drug development 'devours' an ever-increasing portion of overall revenues, leading to growing concern that funds invested in innovation will decrease. According to experts, the efforts of the US FDA to speed up the approval of new products may not be enough.
