Pharmaceuticals “For the fi rst 50 years of your life the food industry is trying to make you fat. Then, the second 50 years, the pharmaceut cal industry is treat ng you for everything” - Pierre Dukan.

The wealth of informat on available to prospect ve buyers in B2B procurement can be overwhelming. While some industries and commodit es remain relat vely unchanged over t me, it’s far more common to be faced with an avalanche of new data from year-to-year. This Annual Report will invest gate the global pharmaceut cal market, highlight ng the most current and relevant informat on in B2B purchasing. Well-informed decisions help a buyer to achieve the best logist cs path and value for commodit es. THE MARKET FOR BIG PHARMA

The global pharmaceut cal market is growing like cancer cells unresponsive to treatment. This might be good news or bad news, depending on your posit on within the industry. In 2013, Canada experienced 3.9% market growth to reach a value of 22.9 billion, a number which is predicted to hit 27.3 billion by 2018. Perhaps not surprisingly, the U.S. currently holds the number one posit on in the pharmaceut cal consumpt on market, followed by Japan, France, Germany, and China (see graph). The combined market value of North America, South America, Europe, and Japan accounts for a full 85% of internat onal profi ts.

Top 14 pharmaceut cal markets

Canada 25 Germany UK 38 32

France China Turkey 38 46 16 Japan 82 Spain 25

USA Italy 25 South 444 Korea Mexico 15 India 19 Brasil 20 20

A market defi nit on is required before we start experiment ng with pharmaceut cal concepts. For the purposes of this report, ‘pharmaceut cals’ consist of ethical drugs only. Pharmaceut cal grades are based on the product meet ng a level of purity, which determines the amount of binders, fi llers, excipients, dyes, and/or unknown substances permit ed in the product. Depending on the purity level a pharmaceut cal product will be ranked as A.C.S., Reagent, U.S.P., or N.F. (in order of descending purity).

All market values have been calculated at ex-factory prices - the value at which manufacturers sell drugs to distributors. The top ten largest distributors control a third of the market, so companies such as AstraZeneca PLC, Johnson & Johnson, Novart s, Merck & Co., and Pfi zer Inc. have at ained industry dominance. In the U.S., the most frequently prescribed therapeut c classes are analgesics, ant diabet c agents, ant hyperlipidemic agents, and ant depressants. What does this mean for buyers and suppliers? To quote the World Health Organizat on (WHO), “there is now an inherent confl ict of interest between the legit mate business goals of manufacturers, and the social, medical, and economic needs of providers and the public to select and use drugs in the most rat onal way”. The industry is being monitored, but st ll lacks transparency: many “responsible business standards” are actually developed by pharmaceut cal companies in order to secure a global niche, and/or create a market ng plat orm. In the UK, promot onal spending by Big Pharma is fi fy t mes greater than spending on public health informat on. As controversial as this may be, such business standards are likely bet er than nothing, as most do address issues such as child labour, workplace condit ons, and environmental welfare.

BUYER POWER: KNOW WHAT YOU NEED

Key buyers in the pharmaceut cal industry include hospitals, pharmacies, health insurance providers, and government healthcare programs. Buyer power is strengthened by price control policies. In Canada, the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board (PMPRB) sets maximum permit ed prices for drugs covered by patents. This means that all prescript on drug prices are determined at the province level and pharmacies are mandated to stay within a specifi ed range for product mark-up.

The quality of materials, equipment, personnel, and third party clinical test ng services are variables that can aff ect a buyer’s negot at ng posit on. Trends such as escalat ng healthcare costs, an aging populat on, the availability of generic drugs, and the development of personalized medicine stemming from genomic research have created new opportunit es for buyer movement in the market. Granted, this movement may be circular: the relat onship between pharmaceut cals, healthcare systems, corporat ons, and diseases has the public on a carousel of confusion.

Buyers might want to consider at ending global events such as Pharmtech & Ingredients 2015 in Russia, and/or the 20th annual euroPLX 59 in Athens. For more informat on on these events and others, consult ht p://www.pharmiweb.com/Events/default.asp. SUPPLIER POWER: SOURCING SYNTHETICS

The major suppliers to the market are manufacturers of act ve pharmaceut cal ingredients (API’s), which form a sub-sector of the chemical industry. These API’s are supplied on a contractual basis, so companies risk high switching costs if they consider taking their business elsewhere. To harness supplier power, the pharmaceut cal industry relies heavily on sourcing managers to purchase raw materials. The demand for new API’s is cont nuous - cut ng- edge therapeut c agents cannot be developed without these materials. If a revolut onary drug hits the market, the supplier of the API can make a large amount of money. This potent al scenario makes e-procurement solut ons an ideal tool for sourcing managers to ident fy opt mal materials. Trackable, easily accessed contracts can be managed to secure maximum savings and effi ciencies. The purchasing process does not have to be t me-consuming, complicated, and disorganized.

It’s unlikely that suppliers would forward-integrate into the pharmaceut cal market; however, their capabilit es in chemical synthesis make them realist c candidates for generic drug manufacturing. Recently, larger pharmaceut cal companies have started producing their own chemicals in an at empt to grow profi ts. Clinical test ng is st ll predominantly outsourced to third part es, as these trials are essent al for regulatory approvals.

NEW ENTRANTS: TAMPER‐PROOF COMPETITION?

A company wishing to enter the pharmaceut cals market must fi rst demonstrate that its drugs are safe and eff ect ve, to the sat sfact on of a nat onal regulator, such as Health Canada (specifi c to within Canada). From start to fi nish it can take 10-15 years to make a new drug accessible to the public - a process that requires manufacturers to expend substant al costs on R&D and market ng, which further increases the capital requirements for new entrants.

It’s slightly easier to penetrate a well-researched market with an exist ng drug, providing the licensing authority in that country is sat sfi ed. Laws defending intellectual property and patent expirat on dates can vary from country to country; smaller companies generally lack the fi nancial horsepower to tackle the compet t on in these new markets. On a posit ve note, it’s moderately easy to exit the pharmaceut cal market: patents, trademarks, and synthet c methods are “weightless” and can be sold relat vely easily. New entrants to the pharmaceut cal market should also keep in mind some guidelines for product transport. To avoid the possibility of counterfeit goods, mix-ups, adulterat on, and contaminat on, all shipments should be secured in dedicated vehicles and include the documentat on necessary to indicate regulatory compliance. Regulat ons are mainly set by nat onal legislat ons in order to monitor the act vit es of pharmaceut cal distributors. In general, these distributors follow a system of inventory control that ensures upcoming expirat on dates are taken in account. This forms part of the larger good storage pract ces (GSP).

As the pharmaceut cal industry evolves, companies will occupy niches for products that have yet to be developed, for diseases that have yet to be ident fi ed. As projected market forecasts indicate, the cynicism surrounding aspects of Big Pharma will cont nue to be surpassed only by our reliance on it, and end results may cause dizziness.

Did You Know That...

Drug reps of en give gif s to doctors to convince them to prescribe the medicat ons that they represent. These drug reps typically have no science or medical educat on.

Drugs developed by major pharmaceut cal companies could cost anywhere between 2 and 11 billion to bring to market.

Every year drugs and vaccines prevent approximately 3 million deaths from malaria.

References:

Pharmaceut cals in Canada. (2014). MarketLine. Retrieved July 15th, 2015.

World Health Organizat on: Pharmaceut cal Industry. (2015). Retrieved July 15th, 2015, from ht p://www.who.int/trade/ glossary/story073/en/.

The Global Pharmaceut cal Industry. Morgan Castner and Daniel Shankle. Duke University. (2014). ht ps://web.duke.edu/ soc142/team2/social.html.

Stat st cs and Facts About The Pharmaceut cal Industry Worldwide. Stat sta. (2015). www.stat sta.com

The Global Pharmaceut cal Industry Report. Industry Week. (2015). www.industryweek.com.

Analysing The Global Pharmaceut cals Industry 2015. PR NewsWire. (2015). www.prnewswire.com.

The Top 15 Pharma Companies by 2014 Revenue. FiercePharma. (2015). ht p://www.fi ercepharma.com/special-reports/ top-15-pharma-companies-2014-revenue.

The Truly Staggering Cost of Invent ng New Drugs. Forbes. (2012). ht p://www.forbes.com/sites/mat hewherp- er/2012/02/10/the-truly-staggering-cost-ofi nvent ng-new-drugs/.