TOP 50 global pharmaceutical companies in 2010

On the crest of a waveValery Yudin, "Weekly PHARMACY" www.apteka.ua according to the materials

www.pharmexec.findpharma.com; www.medscape.com;
www.imshealth.com; www.businessweek.comFor several years now, traditionally during this period, we have been introducing readers to the rating of the top 50 global pharmaceutical companies, which is the main indicator of changes taking place in the industry market.

Today, these changes are dictated by several game-changers (from the English game-changer – a factor that changes the rules of the game), such as healthcare reform in the United States and the end of patent protection for most of the original best-selling drugs.

In 2010, the global pharmaceutical companies included in the top 50 list showed a calmer development dynamics compared to the previous year: the total volume of global sales of medicines in 2010 did not reach analysts' forecasts (more than $ 825 billion). USA), stopping at $791.4 billion. Experts believe that the reason for this is that the largest players represented on the global pharmaceutical market were busy with mergers and acquisitions, as well as "licking their wounds" after their innovative drugs suffered a number of failures during phase III clinical trials.

At the same time, they note, the problems associated with the disappointing results of the final phases of research are not something new. 2010 was neither the first nor the last year when innovative medicines would have failed. However, this was the year when such failures of the company were felt especially clearly due to the high unrealized market demand for new medicines. In particular, this concerns the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (this year the candidate drugs Dimebon™ (latrepirdin), which Pfizer developed jointly with Medivation Inc., as well as semagacestat, developed jointly by Eli Lilly & Co. Inc. and Elan Corporation, failed), AIDS (vicriviroc "Merck&Co. Inc.") and rheumatoid arthritis (ocrelizumab "Roche Holding AG").

Mainly rotation among the largest representatives of the pharmaceutical industry occurred in the top ten. Thus, the position of Novartis International AG has changed in the top 10, which lost its 2nd place to the French company sanofi-aventis S.A. (which recently changed its name to Sanofi S.A.). Merck&Co. Inc. also moved in the ranking – from 7th place to 6th.

2010 also turned out to be the first year when the volume of sales (in monetary terms) of prescription drugs of the pharmaceutical company leading this rating crossed the $50 billion mark. This company became the American Pfizer Inc. – after the merger with Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Inc., the volume of sales of prescription drugs in monetary terms of the combined company increased from $45.4 billion in 2009 to $58.5 billion in 2010, or by 28.9% (Table 1).

Table 1. TOP-50 global pharmaceutical companies according to the results of 2010* 

*The distribution of companies in the rating does not reflect the total income or profit of the company, but represents only the volume of sales of its prescription drugs, without taking into account the profit from the sale of diagnostic drugs, medical devices and drugs for use in veterinary medicine.
In addition, data on the volume of sales of individual products of some companies were not provided. Therefore, not all the data indicated in the rating may be complete.
N/A – data is not available.
** According to experts.

At the same time, analysts say, the volume of profits of pharmaceutical companies wishing to get into the list of the largest is forced to constantly increase. Thus, 2010 was the first year when, in order to join the top 50 global pharmaceutical companies, it was required that the revenue from the sale of prescription drugs amounted to at least $ 2 billion. For comparison: even 10 years ago, it was enough that the income was only 500 million dollars.

In general, the total sales of prescription drugs in monetary terms of the largest pharmaceutical companies included in the top 50 in 2010 amounted to 593.4 billion dollars. This is almost 8% more than in 2009, when this figure was fixed at around 550.5 billion dollars. At the same time, the increase in sales of the companies that made up the top ten accumulated a large share: their income from sales of Rx products in 2010 amounted to $ 352.5 billion. (Fig. 1), which is 10% more compared to the year before last, when this indicator in monetary terms amounted to $ 319.4 billion. This result was achieved mainly due to mergers and acquisitions that took place among pharmaceutical companies.

Fig. 1. Distribution of profits of pharmaceutical companies in the top 50 in 2010In addition to the high results that Pfizer has demonstrated with its almost 29% increase in sales of prescription drugs, other companies have also demonstrated high results.

Thus, the increase in sales of the American biopharmaceutical company Merck& Co. after its merger with Schering-Plough Corp. compared to the previous year amounted to 58%, and the sales volume of Abbott Laboratories Inc. increased by almost 28% after the acquisition of the pharmaceutical division of the Belgian Solvay and the Indian manufacturer branded generics "Piramal Healthcare Ltd.". However, a truly record figure for the results of 2010 was demonstrated by a small Irish firm "Warner Chilcott plc", which acquired the pharmaceutical business of one of the world's giants, Procter & Gamble, including such a bestseller as Actonel® (residronate), a drug for the treatment of osteoporosis. This allowed Warner Chilcott not only to acquire a pharmaceutical business in 14 new countries, but also a product portfolio of prescription drugs owned by Procter & Gamble, as well as production facilities in Puerto Rico and Germany. Thanks to all this, the company's sales growth in 2010 in monetary terms amounted to 111%, and the sales volume of prescription drugs itself amounted to $2.9 billion.

As before, the largest pharmaceutical market in 2010 was the North American market – its share amounted to 42% or $ 334.8 billion. (Fig. 2). At the same time, its increase compared to 2009 was 3.2%. The second largest pharmaceutical market in 2010 was the European market. Its share was almost 30% (with sales of $230.7 billion and an increase of 1.8%). At the same time, the pharmaceutical market of Latin America turned out to be the most growing in 2010. Despite the fact that its share was 5.3%, the increase in sales compared to 2009 was 16.3%. The combined market of Asia, Africa and Australia also demonstrated strong dynamics – its combined sales volume growth in 2010 amounted to 13.3%. In general, the volume of sales in the global pharmaceutical market, according to the company "IMS Health", amounted to 791.4 billion dollars, which is 4.2% more than in the previous year.

Fig. 2. Geographical structure of the global pharmaceutical market in monetary terms in 2010
indicating the growth rate of sales volumes compared to the previous year
(according to IMS Health, MIDAS, 2010)Traditionally, the rating of the top 20 bestselling drugs in the global pharmaceutical market (Fig. 3) was headed by Lipitor/Lipitor/Liprimar (atorvastatin, Pfizer): in 2010, its sales volume amounted to $ 12.66 billion, which is 6.2% less than in 2009.

This is attributed to the appearance of generic versions of atorvastatin in many markets.

Fig. 3. Top-20 drugs by sales volume in the world
(billion dollars; according to IMS Health, MIDAS, 2010)The following ranking positions have also changed insignificantly.

Plavix® also made up the top five/Plavix® (clopidogrel, "sanofi-aventis"/"Bristol-Myers Squibb"), whose sales volume in the global pharmaceutical market in monetary terms decreased by 3.4% over the past year, as well as Seretide®/Advair®/Seretide (fluticasone+salmeterol, "GlaxoSmithKline"), Nexium®/Nexium (esomeprazole, AstraZeneca plc) and antipsychotic drug Seroquel®/Seroquel™ (quetiapine, AstraZeneca).

Among the products from the top 20 that demonstrated the largest increase in sales in monetary terms was the drug of the Crestor®/Crestor® statin group (calcium rosuvastatin, AstraZeneca plc), which demonstrated an increase of 24%, Humira® psoriasis treatment (adalimumab, Abbott; +19.7%) and Lantus®/Lantus (insulin glargine, "sanofi-aventis"; +16.7%) (see Fig. 3).

Among the most therapeutic classes of drugs sold on the global pharmaceutical market (Fig. 4), the 1st place was taken by drugs for the treatment of cancer (the volume of sales in 2010 amounted to 56 billion dollars), drugs acting on lipid metabolism, and drugs for the treatment of respiratory diseases (36.4 and 35.8 billion dollars. respectively). The most dynamically growing class in the global pharmaceutical market in 2010 were drugs for the treatment of autoimmune diseases – the increase in sales in monetary terms for the corresponding period amounted to 14.7%. The 2nd and 3rd places were, respectively, drugs for the treatment of multiple sclerosis and AIDS (13.9 and 13.2%, respectively). In the coming years, the growth dynamics of these groups of drugs will grow and the expectations of pharmaceutical companies are associated with them.

 
Top 20 therapeutic classes of drugs by sales volume in 2010 in the world
(billion dollars; according to IMS Health, MIDAS, 2010)If we talk about the future of global pharmaceutical companies for 2011 – and the next decade – it will be held under the auspices of healthcare reform in the United States.

Many of the world's largest pharmaceutical players already understand today that their well-being will be affected by the results of the ongoing reform, thanks to which medical care will become available to 30 million previously uninsured Americans.

However, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, signed in March 2010 by Barack Obama and marking the start of the reform, is rather just the beginning of the expected economic avalanche, experts believe. It will set in motion new economic levers that in the foreseeable future will have an impact on all chains – insurance companies, employers, clinics, patients and pharmaceutical companies – as a result of which the mechanisms for the supply of medical services and payments will change. This will have certain economic threats for large representatives of the pharmaceutical business, however, it will allow "leveling" the opportunity to have access to medical care among different categories of patients, as well as to make a profit not only for large pharmaceutical companies. However, whether this will somehow affect the ranking of the top 50 in the coming years remains an open question.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru24.06.2011