Intellectual property concerns and domestic bias hold back R&D in Asia-Pacific

Latest figures, released by MedTRACK, a biomedical database of Life Science Analytics, show stagnant product development across the Asia Pacific (APAC) region. Only 15% of all drugs development is taking place in APAC, despite this region boasting some of the largest potential growth markets in the world. This compares to 28% in Europe and 55% in the USA.

Sarah Terry, president of MedTRACK, comments: “Sluggish performance in the traditional major pharmaceutical markets is forcing big pharma to seek opportunities elsewhere. The sheer magnitude of potential patient populations combined with a rapid economic growth and burgeoning middle classes make emerging APAC markets particularly attractive to foreign investors. However, issues and concerns over intellectual property and a lack of health care infrastructure in many of these markets mean that the region’s attractiveness as a location for drug development will remain low until these issues are resolved. ”

Governments favoring domestic firms