Ten Years of Pharmaceutical Companies Based on Financial Data Reform of Profit Structure and Cost Structure
Takahito Kushi (Senior Researcher, Pharmaceuticals and Industrial Policy Research Institute)
Naoya Fujiwara (Senior Fellow, Pharmaceuticals and Industrial Policy Research Institute)
Mitsuaki Yamamoto (Senior Fellow, Pharmaceuticals and Industrial Policy Research Institute)
(No.13: Published in October 2003)
The environment surrounding pharmaceuticals has changed dramatically over the past decade. R&D costs have skyrocketed and the time required to conduct them has lengthened as a result of ever-advancing drug discovery research and rigorous non-clinical and clinical trials. In addition, competition is intensifying due to the full-scale entry of foreign companies and other factors, while the domestic pharmaceutical market is sluggish due to repeated drug price reductions. On the other hand, looking at the future of the pharmaceutical industry, the need for new drugs is increasing due to the rapid aging of the population and advances in medicine and medical treatment, and the potential for growth in the pharmaceutical industry is high. In addition, there are growing expectations for the knowledge-intensive, high-value-added pharmaceutical industry as an industry that will play a key role in the revitalization of the Japanese economy.
In this context, we analyzed the corporate behavior and achievements of Japanese pharmaceutical companies over the past decade, focusing on financial data. The results revealed that the companies have strengthened their competitiveness through the development of internationally marketed products and aggressive overseas expansion, efforts to improve management efficiency, and continuous focused investment in R&D. In addition, looking at each company individually, the performance gap has widened compared to 10 years ago.