PHILADELPHIA and LONDON, June
28 /PRNewswire/ — The pharmaceutical industry continues to
rely heavily on sales from an aging portfolio of drugs, whilst the
proportion of total sales from newer drugs has dropped, according
to data released today from the 2010 Pharmaceutical R&D
Factbook complied by CMR International, a Thomson Reuters
business.
The new edition of the R&D Factbook shows that the majority
of sales for the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies are
derived from the most mature drugs, with the top three drugs for a
company on average contributing 44 percent of total sales.
A general decline in success rates for new drugs also has taken
its toll on productivity and indicative of this is a doubling of
phase III terminations in the period 2007-2009 compared with those
in 2004-2006. Further analysis of the data reveals that less than 1
in 10 drugs reaching ‘first toxicity dose’ can now expect to be
successfully launched.
Key highlights from the 2010 R&D Factbook include:
- The proportion of total sales from drugs launched within the
last five years has dropped to below 7 percent, compared with 8
percent in 2008. - R&D expenditure dropped by 0.3 percent in 2009, down from
6.6 percent in 2008, and in stark contrast to the growth rate of
previous years. - 26 new molecular entities (NME) were launched onto the global
market in 2009, an increase from 2008’s 20-year low of 21. - 17.9 percent of global R&D expenditure was allocated to
anti-cancer drugs, making it the therapeutic area receiving the
largest proportion of investment. - Competition from the generics sector is increasing in
particular due to contributions from‘/>”/>
