Pharma Showing Signs of Stability Despite Patent Cliffs

The pharmaceutical market is beginning to show signs of stability, with a review of 30 leading companies highlighting combined revenues of $718.7 billion in 2013, down just 0.2% from 2012, according to GlobalData.

While overall industry revenues were relatively unchanged, a familiar pattern saw a number of companies recording significantly lower sales in 2013 than in the previous year. A major contributor to the pharmaceutical market’s decline in 2013 was Pfizer, which saw its top-line sales decrease by 12.5% or $7.4 billion.

Adam Dion, GlobalData analyst for Healthcare Industry Dynamics, commented: “While Pfizer’s fall in sales was largely the result of the separation of its animal health business, it also underlines the impact of a number of patent expirations and the graduated termination of the company’s agreement with Boehringer Ingelheim.”

On the plus side, Johnson & Johnson was the growth leader in absolute dollars, increasing by $4.1 billion in 2013, driven by the company’s immunology and oncology portfolios, and Biogen Idec was the peer group revenue growth leader in 2013, with sales increased to $5.5 billion, a 25.7% rise from the $4.2 billion the company reported in 2012.

Dion explained: “Biogen’s revenues soared as a result of Tysabri, the company’s injectable monotherapy for treating relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), and its new oral MS drug Tecfidera.

“Sales of Tysabri grew 36.4% year-to-year from $1.1 billion in 2012 to $1.5 billion in 2013. The company also benefited from recognizing $876.1 million in new revenues from sales of Tecfidera, despite the drug only having been approved in March 2013.”

Dion added that 2014 figures will show Gilead well on its way to making a significant impact, with its blockbuster hepatitis C drug, Sovaldi.

For more information on the GlobalData report, click here.