Abstract
The pharmaceutical industry is seen as one of the most dynamic, volatile, and innovative parts of the global economic environment. It also has a big impact on the society and is an indicator of the healthcare systems' condition. Some changes have happened in the last decades, for example, shifting the production facilities to the developing countries, new market entries, or the new law changed the previously established and stable layout of market forces. The chapter aims at presenting the current situation of the global pharmaceutical industry including the main trends influencing the changes in this sector. Describing this part of the global market will ensure the right interpretation of the research results of the other parts of the book.
TopResearch Methods
Descriptive Statistics and Data Interpretation
According to the main objective of this chapter, which is describing the current state and trends in the pharmaceutical industry, only the simple forms of data presentation and analysis were applied, such as structure and dynamics indicators (see Research results section).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Big Pharma: A group of the largest pharmaceutical companies, which have their origin in so-called Western countries, especially in USA, Western Europe, and Japan.
Corporate Social Responsibility: A type of international private business self-regulation aimed at taking care of the society and environment and minimizing or reducing a negative impact of the company on them.
Public-Private Partnership (PPP): A (usually long-term) cooperative arrangement between two or more public and private sectors/companies to carry out a project, a set of projects.
Generic Drug: Equivalent to a brand-name product but not having a brand name. It contains the same active pharmaceutical ingredient as the original (brand) drug, mostly also the same dosage, strength, route of administration, quality, performance, and intended use.
Supply Chain Management: A concept of managing the flow of resources in the supply chain containing suppliers, producers, distributors, intermediaries, wholesalers, retailers, third or fourth party logistics (3PL, 4PL).
Cold Chain Management: Management of the flow of temperature-sensitive pharmaceuticals.
Pharmerging: A group of countries having low position on the pharmaceutical market, but having a speed pace of growth. Those are China and India, in lower extent Brazil, South Africa, and other countries.