Pharma outsourcing grows, generics gaining market share

More broadly speaking, global demand for pharmaceutical contract manufacturing services is expected to grow at an annual rate of 11 percent through 2013, according to another study from MarketResearch.com.

The study cites rising demand for contract services as cost pressures combine with the slow economy to push pharma firms to outsource. Leading pharma companies are among those looking at this model as a means to expand into the biosimilars and generics segments.

And generics are growing, with global spending set to rise to 39 percent of all pharmaceuticals by 2015, reaching nearly $1.1 trillion. That’s roughly double generics’ share from about five years back, but represents a slowing compound annual growth rate of 3 to 6 percent over the next five years vs. the 6.2 percent annual growth seen over the past five years. Lower U.S. spending growth, patent expiries in developed markets, emerging markets and global policy are covered in a new, downloadable report by IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics.