IMS Health predicts global pharma market to grow 5%-6% in 2008

NORWALK, Conn. According to IMS Health’s 2008 Global Market and Therapy Forecast, the global pharmaceutical market is expected to grow at a 5 percent to 6 percent pace next year, compared with 6 percent to 7 percent in 2007.

IMS also expects drug treatment costs to decline in several areas that include lipid regulators, calcium channel blockers, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, osteoporosis therapies and proton pump inhibitors, because of generic introductions.

“In several respects, 2008 marks an important inflection point for the global pharmaceutical market,” said Murray Aitken, senior vice president, Healthcare Insight, IMS. “For the first time, the seven largest markets will contribute just half of overall pharmaceutical market growth, while seven emerging markets will contribute nearly 25 percent of growth worldwide. And, as the impact of established pharmaceuticals losing patent protection accelerates, we will see a decline for the first time in the size of the $370 billion to 380 billion audited market for primary care-driven drugs. In the coming year, biopharmaceutical and generics companies will more aggressively adjust their business models to manage through these inflections, capturing new opportunities in this changing market environment.”