Escalating costs of drug development drive pharmaceutical companies to tap opportunities in emerging markets

The increased cost of drug development has impelled pharmaceutical companies to seek better opportunities in emerging markets to successfully expand and sell their products. Most pharmaceutical companies consider emerging markets lucrative due to their economical infrastructure and manpower costs and a significant untapped market potential with a large population.

A new analysis from Frost & Sullivan, Global Pharma-Biotech Alliance Analysis, finds that health care reform programs in emerging markets have dramatically improved the level of health care coverage in these countries. The regions covered in this research service include the so-called BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, and China). In fact, China is expected to be the third fastest growing pharmaceutical market in the world by 2011.

"With companies focusing on emerging markets, they would need to address the varying medical requirements of each of these markets," says Frost & Sullivan research analyst Swetha Shantikumar, adding: "Therefore, there will be an overall shift in the pharmaceutical industry from a very Western centric model to a global one."