In Europe, developed generic markets such as Germany and The United Kingdom have very high rates of generic penetration, presenting very minimal growth rates. While emerging markets such as France, Italy and Spain have seen the extent of generics penetration increase steadily, pricing policies, incentive schemes and regulatory framework still pose a challenge to the market participants with regard to market access and profit margins.

“Focus of market participants is shifting towards les competitive yet commercially attractive segments such as difficult-to-produce drugs, specialty products and biosimilars,” explains Aiswariya Chidambaram, Research Analyst at Frost & Sullivan.

Looking at the key therapeutic areas, Central Nervous System (CNS) and Cardiovascular are the two largest markets segments, constituting nearly 38 per cent of the global generic pharmaceuticals market. However, therapeutic segments such as Rheumatology, oncology and respiratory are likely to witness significantly high growth rates, attracting the attention of market participants.

The top five generic pharmaceutical companies accounted for 39 per cent of the share in the global generic pharmaceuticals market in 2010.

Diversification of product portfolios, vertical integration across the value chain, and untapped potentials of the emerging markets are the main drivers of acquisitions growth of generic pharmaceutical companies.

There will be a significant rise in the partnership deals of generic pharmaceutical companies in the future, since many generic companies rely upon M&A rather than organic growth to battle out the intense competition in the industry.

“Careful choice of product segments and appropriate time of entry into the market will enable the generic drug manufacturers to sustain amidst intense competition,” concludes Aiswariya Chidambaram.

Frost & Sullivan recently organised an on-demand web-conference entitled “Global Generic Pharmaceuticals Market – Brighter Times Ahead”. The web-conference summarises Ms Aiswariya Chidambaram’s findings, investigating the market opportunities in terms of the key therapeutic areas facing generic exposure and establishing an understanding of the current and future trends in the developed and emerging markets worldwide. This web-conference will benefit biopharmaceuticals companies, pharmaceutical companies and technology providers in the biopharmaceutical industry.

To receive a presentation of the web-conference and a link to the recording, please send an email to Janique Morvan, Corporate Communications, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , with your full contact details.