Dear Colleagues! Today is Pharma Veterans Blog Post #169. Pharma Veterans shares the wealth of knowledge and wisdom of Veterans for the benefit of entire Pharma Community. It aims to recognize and celebrate the Pharma Industry Professionals. Pharma Veterans Blog is published by Asrar Qureshi on WordPress, the top blog site. If you wish to share your stories, ideas and thoughts, please email to asrar@asrarqureshi.com for publishing your contributions here.
Continued from previous……
Current Situation
Look into the Q3 2018 MAT Pharma statistics and you will see these interesting facts.
- The 380 billion rupees market has growth rate of over 12%
- 4 companies have crossed 20 billion mark; two each from MNCs and Local Pharma
- 11 companies have crossed 10 billion mark; 6 are from Local Pharma
- Top 5 companies have about 25% Market Share
- Top 10 companies have about 45% Market Share
- Top 20 companies have about 66% Market Share
- Top 30 companies have about 78% Market Share
Pakistan Pharma Market has very uneven distribution of business, as you can see. As mentioned in the Part I of this series, the number of Pharma companies in Pakistan is estimated to be 700. Top 50 companies have above 90% market share, while the other 650 companies are competing for less than 10% market. In numbers, they are competing for 25-30 billion rupees market. Out of the total pie, it is a very thin slice, yet it keeps a large number of companies surviving.
Coming back to our discussion on evolution of generic industry, the growth of generic drugs (Local Pharma) has been extremely aggressive and impressive. So much so, that many MNCs ventured into launching generics. However, except Sandoz (Novartis) and Abbott, none could have any worthwhile achievement in the area of generic drugs.
Local Pharma now holds 80% or more market share while MNCs have been relegated to 20% or less. Interestingly, a similar situation prevails in India and Bangladesh. Population of India is 5 times that of Pakistan or Bangladesh, but the number of Pharma companies is over 30 times.
Having witnessed the Pharma market in Pakistan for over 43 years, I can make this comment with a definite authenticity.
The Pharma market in Pakistan would have never grown like this, if the generic industry had not done so well.
The credit must be given to Local Pharma who stood up to the challenge of MNCs. They worked hard and turned the table with fewer resources.
All is not rosy in this scenario. Pharmaceutical industry is a business like any other and is liable to be exploited by some people whose primary purpose is to make money anyhow. This is not just an indigenous problem; it is universal. Many large MNCs have faced trials, punitive actions and multimillion-dollar fines for willful neglect and serious misdemeanors. The regulatory mechanism has to be vigilant about it.
Two Quotes are relevant.
First from Ms. Marcia Angell, (an American physician, author, and the first woman to serve as editor-in-chief of the New England Journal of Medicine. She is currently a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts.)
Second from Mr. Kenneth C. Frazier (Chairman and CEO of the pharmaceutical company Merck & Co. (known as MSD outside of North America).
Concluded.
1 comment
Drap role in this industry is quite disappointing being not able to enforce regulations and prevent patients interest unfortunately