The Competitive Status Of The U S Pharmaceutical Industry

This book examines an increasingly important phenomenon for competitiveness and innovation in industry: namely, the growing use of scientific principles in industrial research. Industrial innovation still arises from systematic trial-and-error experiments with many designs and objects, but these experiments are now being guided by a more rational understanding of phenomena. This has important implications for market structure, firm strategies, and competition. Science and innovation focuses on the pharmaceutical industry. It discusses the changes that the notable advances in the life sciences in the 1980s have brought to the strategies of drug companies, the organization of their internal research, their relationships with scientific institutions, the division of labor between large pharmaceutical firms and small research-intensive suppliers, the productivity of drug discovery, and the productivity of R&D.

Examine the global pharmaceutical industry and the effect of national, regulatory, economic, and market environments on the competitiveness of the industry! This unique book is the only empirical study that examines the effects of the national environment on the competitiveness of a country's pharmaceutical industry. This informative book explores such topics as the types of comparative advantages that firms use for developing competitive advantages and what strategic choices firms should make when collaborating with international firms. Public policy implications with respect to the economic environment are also discussed to give you a complete look at the international pharmaceutical industry. Global Competitiveness in the Pharmaceutical Industry recognizes pharmaceutical industries as being of great social and public importance to all countries, since so many life saving drugs have emerged from pharmaceutical laboratories over the past four decades. By helping to combat many fatal diseases and eradicate others, drug producers have helped to positively alter mortality patterns in many parts of the world, thus making companies compete to provide many important medicines. The unique research presented in this book examines the determinants of global competitive advantage in the pharmaceutical industry by answering such questions as: Which factors stimulate or inhibit a nation's pharmaceutical industry to be globally innovative? Which factors stimulate or inhibit diffusion of pharmaceutical innovations (NECs) into its markets? Are there differences between industrialized and developing countries with respect to factors that affect innovation and global competitiveness in the pharmaceutical industry? Global Competitiveness in the Pharmaceutical Industry makes several theoretical, empirical, and methodological contributions which lead to results and generate important managerial and public policy implications. You will find a comprehensive overview of the nature of global competition in the pharmaceutical industry and its evolution in the post World War II period. Global Competitiveness in the Pharmaceutical Industry provides you with an in-depth understanding of the dynamics and importance of the global pharmaceutical market.

Thanks to remarkable advances in modern health care attributable to science, engineering, and medicine, it is now possible to cure or manage illnesses that were long deemed untreatable. At the same time, however, the United States is facing the vexing challenge of a seemingly uncontrolled rise in the cost of health care. Total medical expenditures are rapidly approaching 20 percent of the gross domestic product and are crowding out other priorities of national importance. The use of increasingly expensive prescription drugs is a significant part of this problem, making the cost of biopharmaceuticals a serious national concern with broad political implications. Especially with the highly visible and very large price increases for prescription drugs that have occurred in recent years, finding a way to make prescription medicinesâ€"and health care at largeâ€"more affordable for everyone has become a socioeconomic imperative. Affordability is a complex function of factors, including not just the prices of the drugs themselves, but also the details of an individual's insurance coverage and the number of medical conditions that an individual or family confronts. Therefore, any solution to the affordability issue will require considering all of these factors together. The current high and increasing costs of prescription drugsâ€"coupled with the broader trends in overall health care costsâ€"is unsustainable to society as a whole. Making Medicines Affordable examines patient access to affordable and effective therapies, with emphasis on drug pricing, inflation in the cost of drugs, and insurance design. This report explores structural and policy factors influencing drug pricing, drug access programs, the emerging role of comparative effectiveness assessments in payment policies, changing finances of medical practice with regard to drug costs and reimbursement, and measures to prevent drug shortages and foster continued innovation in drug development. It makes recommendations for policy actions that could address drug price trends, improve patient access to affordable and effective treatments, and encourage innovations that address significant needs in health care.

Americans praise medical technology for saving lives and improving health. Yet, new technology is often cited as a key factor in skyrocketing medical costs. This volume, second in the Medical Innovation at the Crossroads series, examines how economic incentives for innovation are changing and what that means for the future of health care. Up-to-date with a wide variety of examples and case studies, this book explores how payment, patent, and regulatory policiesâ€"as well as the involvement of numerous government agenciesâ€"affect the introduction and use of new pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and surgical procedures. The volume also includes detailed comparisons of policies and patterns of technological innovation in Western Europe and Japan. This fact-filled and practical book will be of interest to economists, policymakers, health administrators, health care practitioners, and the concerned public.