What lies ahead: pharma and health care trends for 2012?

In what probably comes as no surprise, many of the challenges now faced by the pharmaceutical industry will continue well into the coming year, according to a survey of industry professionals by the respected UK-based Economist Intelligence Unit. In brief:

• 70% expect health care spending to keep rising in 2012
• 64% expect business conditions for their company to be the same or better than in 2011;
• But only 17% think that pharma companies have done enough to prepare for the patent cliff; and
• 84% expect to encounter strong competition from emerging markets competitors.

The year 2012 will be momentous for the world’s biggest pharmaceutical companies, as the patent cliff reaches its steepest point. A record number of blockbuster drugs will lose their protection in the USA, still by far the largest single market for the sector, leaving them exposed to generic competition and denting the revenues of producers by up to 40%, the EIU study shows.