Opinion: Adding value by doing more with less

Published: 12-Nov-2013

The death of the blockbuster is inspiring pharma to look for innovation elsewhere

For an industry that is supposed to be facing a crisis of empty pipelines, imminent patent expiries and overcapacity, the pharma sector seems to be in remarkably good shape if last month’s CPhI Worldwide exhibition is anything to go by.

Or perhaps it is the death of the blockbuster business model that has revitalised those companies that supply goods and services to Big Pharma. Certainly one of the major themes of the week was adding value – for customers, for healthcare providers and for patients.

If there were no major, groundbreaking new technologies on show, there were plenty of small developments that could make a significant difference – in terms of improving yield, process safety and efficiency, solubility, bioavailability, drug targeting, delivery, packaging and patient compliance.

The appetite for innovation was demonstrated by the record number of entries for the CPhI Pharma Awards, which presented the jury with some difficult decisions but ultimately generated three outstanding winners.

Biopharmaceuticals will, without doubt, be a major part of the industry’s future focus and may even fill some of the gaps in company balance sheets that would previously have been filled by blockbuster small molecules.

But not everyone can or will want to go down that road. Quite apart from the high cost of setting up a production facility, biopharma has very different requirements in terms of manufacturing skills, regulatory affairs, drug delivery, packaging, storage and distribution.

And then there is the uncertainty about the willingness of healthcare providers to pay for the final product, not to mention the ambiguity surrounding the approval procedures for biosimilars.

As 2013 draws to a close, it would take a brave pundit to place any bets on where the industry will be this time next year.

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