While the global economy shrank by 3.5 percent due to the pandemic, sales in the pharmaceutical industry grew by 4.4 percent. This growth allows two conclusions, analyzed Erich Lehner, managing director of the consulting firm EY in Austria: On the one hand, the resilience of the pharmaceutical sector is great in view of the economic crisis. On the other hand, the industry is not a crisis winner. Corona led to delays in postponable treatments and affected ongoing research and development projects. The fact that the industry has still grown is thanks to successes in the development of new drugs and long-term trends such as the growing and aging world population. As of June 2021, the pharmaceutical companies had 506 therapeutics and 260 vaccines against corona in the pipeline.
According to EY, the balance sheets of the 21 companies examined show that the dominance of companies based in the USA continues to grow. US corporations achieved more than half (51 percent, 2019 49 percent) of sales. The operating profit (EBIT) rose by an average of 2.7 percent in the industry, although there were major differences between the individual companies. In 2019, they had recorded a jump in profits averaging 18.7 percent. Research and development expenditure rose significantly faster than sales and profits. They increased by 9.2 percent in the previous year. “This reflects the efforts of companies to quickly bring vaccines and drugs against corona onto the market. Many have taken economic risks in order to develop solutions quickly,” said Lehner.
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
