The global pharmaceutical market shows a mixed bag. Although established markets in the United States, Western Europe, and Japan are certainly important players, growth is slowing as the pharmaceutical markets in emerging economies increases. An in-depth review of healthcare spending on pharmaceuticals in the US shows increased generic-drug incursion, lower per-capita spending on pharmaceuticals, and a concentration of patients using pharmaceuticals 

Changing fundamentals for US pharmaceuticals

Total spending on US medicines fell 3.5% on a real per-capita basis in 2012 and the use of healthcare services overall declined for the second consecutive year, according to a new study released by the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics. The report finds that total dollars spent on medications in the U. reached $325.8 billion in 2012, or real per-capita spending of $898, down $33 from 2011. Underlying drivers for the overall decline in healthcare service use included fewer patient visits to office-based physicians, fewer nonemergency admissions to hospitals and outpatient facilities, and a less severe flu season in the early part of 2012. Patent expiries in 2012 contributed $28.9 billion to the reduction in medicine spending, making it the largest-ever impact from generic drugs as millions of patients accessed lower-cost generic versions of medicines, according to IMS. 

 “The cost curve for medicines was clearly bent in 2012, for better or for worse,” said Murray Aitken, executive director, IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics, in a May 9, 2013 press release. “To some extent, this is a harbinger of more efficient use of our healthcare resources, but it also reflects a decline in utilization that may be the result of undertreatment and an imbalance between prevention and care. On the eve of the most transformative period in US healthcare, understanding the drivers of this cost-curve reduction is critical to effectively addressing the long-term implications.”

The report showed that the number of patient visits to doctors’ offices fell 0.9% 2012, a lower level of decline compared with the prior two years. Outpatient treatment and nonemergency room admissions also were down slightly. Only emergency room admissions increased, by 5.8% in 2012. Use of medicines per person declined slightly by 0.1% partly due to a milder cough, cold, and flu season in the initial months of 2012. 

At the same time, the total cost of medicines declined by 3.5% on a real per-capita basis to $325.8 billion. In addition to lower utilization of branded drugs, the primary drivers, according to the IMS report, were: the increased availability of lower-cost generics, which now account for 84% of all prescriptions; the moderating impact of price increases; and lower spending on recently launched medicines. Healthcare costs remain heavily concentrated among relatively few patients suffering from multiple chronic conditions, cancer, or other specialty diseases. In the case of the commercially insured, under-the-age-of-65 population, 5% of the members incurred 51% of total healthcare costs by using more than $15,684 of healthcare services per person in 2012. 

Patients with insurance are paying higher deductibles and higher copays or co-insurance, with nearly 20% of the insured now in a consumer-driven health plan. Average out-of-pocket costs for commercially insured under-the-age-of-65 patients reached $1,146 in 2012, a 30% jump from 2011 and entirely the result of higher deductibles. The average pharmacy benefit copay declined by $2 to $121 in 2012; patients filled 72% of all retail prescriptions with a copay of $10 or less. 

Following several years of slowing growth, the global market for medicines is expected to rebound from a recent low of 3–4% growth in 2012 to 5–7% growth in 2016, according to a 2012 analysis by the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics. Growth will primarily be from emerging markets as growth in established markets in the United States, Western Europe, and Japan remains weak comparative to historical levels. Overall, annual global spending on medicines will rise from $956 billion in 2011 to $1 trillion by 2013, to nearly $1.2 trillion in 2016, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3–6%. For purposes of the IMS analysis, spending is reported as ex-manufacturer prices and does not reflect off-invoice discounts and rebates and is converted from local currencies to US dollars. Absolute growth in global pharmaceutical spending between 2012–2016 will be between $220 billion and $250 billion, compared with $298 billion in the prior five years. 

Additionally, patent expiries, which peaked in 2012, as well as increased cost-containment actions by payers, will constrain branded-medicine spending growth through 2016, at 0–3%. Developed markets experienced their lowest annual growth in 2012 at less than 1% or $3 billion, but will rebound to $18–20 billion in annual growth in the 2014–2016 period. Spending on medicines in developed nations will increase by a total of $60–70 billion from 2011 to 2016, following an increase of $104 billion between 2006 and 2011, according to IMS 

Growth in annual global spending is forecast to more than double by 2016 to as much as $70 billion, up from a $30-billion pace in 2012, driven by volume increases in what IMS terms the “pharmerging” markets and some uptick in spending in developed nations. The “pharmerging” markets are defined by IMS as counties with greater than $1 billion absolute spending growth of more than 2012–2016 and which have gross domestic product per capita of less than $25,000 at purchasing power parity. Using that criteria, China is classified as a Tier-1 country, and Brazil, Russia, and India as Tier-2 countries. Tier 3-countries are Mexico, Turkey, Poland, Venezuela, Argentina, Indonesia, South Africa, Thailand, Romania, Egypt, Ukraine, Pakistan, and Vietnam. Health systems in pharmerging markets will nearly double their medicine spending in five years, according to IMS. Annual spending on medicines in the pharmerging markets will increase from $194 billion in 2011 to between $345 billion and $375 billion by 2016, or $91 in drug spending per capita, according to IMS. The increase will be driven by rising incomes, continued low cost for drugs, and government-sponsored programs designed to increase access to treatments. Generic drugs and other products, including over-the-counter medicines, diagnostics, and nontherapeutics, will account for approximately 83% of the increase. China’s pharmaceutical market is expected to reach $161 billion by 2016, Brazil’s $47 billion, India’s $29 billion, and Russia’s $27 billion. The Tier-3 pharmerging countries are expected to collectively reach $95 billion in pharmaceutical spending by 2016, according to IMS. 

Articles

Global Feature

Emerging markets remain strong as established markets fare less well.

A Pharma Industry Mid-Year Review and Outlook

Companies are outsourcing now more than ever before, but there are indications that these choices are based on strategic calculi rather than as an actual cost-cutting mechanism, although cost is slowly entering more into the decision to outsource. Part of BioPlan Associates'

 10th Annual Report and Survey of Biopharmaceutical Manufacturers

 evaluated the ways in which companies are addressing cost issues in biopharmaceutical manufacturing (1). 

The study found that the most significant action taken in the past 12 months was the "implementation of programs to reduce operating costs," indicated by 69.2% of respondents, down  from 80.7% in 2012 and 73.1% in 2011. Various other activities, such as negotiating harder with vendors to reduce costs, implementing lean manufacturing programs, and accepting single-use systems into clinical manufacturing operations, were undertaken by at least one-third of respondents. Outsourcing to reduce costs, however, was not a key priority (1). Of the 19 cost-cutting actions examined in the study, the five actions relating to outsourcing occupied the bottom spots in the survey results, an indication that when it comes time to tightening the reins, calling a CMO is not the first option. In fact, it is one of the last.   

That tendency, however, might be slowly changing. During the past several years, the percentage of respondents indicating that they outsourced activities as a cost-cutting mechanism has grown. The 2013 survey showed the following (see 

 Figure 1: Percentage of respondents taking actions to reduce costs during the past 12 months, respectively in 2011, 2012, 2013. (FIGURE 1 IS COURTESY OF THE AUTHOR.)   									

16.8% of respondents in 2013 outsourced jobs in manufacturing, up from 14.4% in 2012 and 11.8% in 2011. 

14% outsourced manufacturing to domestic service providers, an increase from 9.4% in 2012 and 7.1% in 2011.  

13.3% outsourced jobs in process development, on par with the 13.3% in 2012 and 13.2% in 2011.

12.6% outsourced manufacturing to nondomestic service providers (offshoring), up from 9.4% in 2012 and 5.7% in 2011. 

11.2% outsourced jobs in R&D, up from 9% the past two years.

The relatively low priority assigned to outsourcing as a cost-cutting tool may reflect companies viewing these activities more as means to fill temporary gaps in capacity and as a way for biopharmaceutical  companies to focus on their core competencies. Another explanation may be that although outsourcing is seen as a useful cost-reduction tool, it does not compare as favorably with other cost-cutting tactics. Biopharmaceutical companies are not alone in this result; in previous BioPlan surveys, few vendors approached cost containment by outsourcing.  

The data from 2013, however, show that outsourcing is increasingly considered as a cost-cutting mechanism. This trend may be related to CMOs expanding their manufacturing competence through novel technologies, single-use/disposable bioreactors, and other differentiated bioprocessing services. These expansions result in increased adaptability, lower costs, faster turnaround, and higher yields. These trends create greater competition among CMOs and more choice for biopharmaceutical companies. Increased competition that results in downward pricing pressures among CMOs might lead clients to more heavily figure cost into the equation when making a decision about outsourcing. When bio/pharmaceutical companies were asked about critical issues when considering outsourcing biomanufacturing to a CMO, 42% said that it was "very important" that the CMOs demonstrate the cost effectiveness of their services. That  percentage is the highest level of response to this factor since 2007, when it was also cited by 42% of respondents. In 2012, only 29% of respondents cited this factor as such.  

As technological improvements allow, suppliers and manufacturers are shifting their focus to reducing costs. Almost three-quarters (73%) of respondents in the 2013 study said that due to the recent global economic situation, they had placed a "much greater" or "somewhat greater" focus on cost-cutting, up from 67% in 2012 and  approximately 71% in 2011 and 2010.  

Production-capacity constraints continue to shift, and these changes require manufacturers to scrutinize costs and technology. CMOs continue to offer valuable technical expertise and flexible capacity that supports biotherapeutic developers and reduces the total risks associated with building (or not) internal capacity.  

Moreover, under extreme conditions, activities such as R&D, which were considered essential to retain in-house, may become options for outsourcing. Biopharmaceutical companies plan for the long term, and because R&D cycles and production build-outs are lengthy and risk-intensive, it is the additional benefits that outsourcing can bring to drug development and manufacture that often swing decisions.  

For several years, BioPlan has seen that general budgets for in-house biopharmaceutical manufacturing have risen more quickly than budgets for outsourced manufacturing. This trend suggests that as budgets expand for other activities, biomanufacturers want to maintain their outsourcing spending levels, perhaps in an attempt to extract more value out of their relationships. Although outsourcing may not be a primary cost-cutting tool, it is subject to similar efficiency pressures.   

In 2013, budgets for outsourced biomanufacturing are expected to rise by an estimated 1.7%, up from -0.4% in 2012, 0.8% in 2011, -1.2% in 2010, and -1.3% in 2009. It is interesting to see budgets rise at the same time as more biomanufacturers look to outsourcing as a cost-cutting mechanism. This trend may be an indication that clients will be outsourcing more activities this year, not only to benefit from the additional capabilities of today's sophisticated CMO, but also because they believe they will realize some cost savings from their decisions. 

10th Annual Report and Survey of Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing Capacity and Production

 is president of BioPlan Associates, tel. 301.921.5979, 

Outsourcing

Outsourcing is weighing in more as a tactic for cost-cutting, but it is still not the primary weapon.

Outsourcing's Modest Role as a Cost-Containment Strategy

As pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical companies face an increasingly competitive environment marked by greater globalization, more complex supply chains, and changing regulatory and technological requirements, they are tasked with finding ways to meet those demands. Sourcing and procurement activities play a crucial role in pharmaceutical/biopharmaceutical companies’ strategies and provide opportunities for value-creation as well as cost-savings. These issues will be addressed by an upcoming educational program, DCAT’s 

 on July 11, 2013 in New York City. Developed and organized by the Drug, Chemical and Associated Technologies Association (DCAT), the program brings together sourcing, procurement, and supply-chain professionals from the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industries to discuss the megatrends affecting the industry, their impact on procurement organizations, and strategies to optimize sourcing and procurement activities. 

Speaking at the conference will be William L. Michels, CPM, CPSM, and president of ADR North America, who will examine the key megatrends (economic, industrial, regulatory, and social) affecting business strategy and operations. His interactive discussion will examine issues, such as talent management, sustainability, innovation capture, cost and value improvements, and social network’s impact on procurement and supply chains as a means to provide business teams a framework to facilitate their decision-making on strategy and operations. 

Several industry executives will offer their particular experience in procurement, sourcing, and supply-management activities.  Hans Melotte, vice-president and chief procurement officer at Johnson & Johnson, will share his knowledge and experience on how procurement organizations can be used to deliver value and implement company strategy. He will discuss how procurement leaders can be engaged in strategy development, influence corporate financial goals, and deliver results aligned with corporate strategy.  He will also examine the importance of partner/supplier relationships in facilitating those objectives. 

Clive R. Heal, team leader and value-creation agent of the Supplier Relationship Center at Roche/Genentech Pharmaceuticals, will discuss Roche’s new global Supplier Relationship Center (SRC). Roche launched the SRC in June 2012 at its Genentech site in South San Francisco with the target to drive value-creation andinnovation through collaboration with five external suppliers. Heal will provide a progress report on the SRC, including the expectations of the SRC and the experiences and learnings thus far from the program. Dietmar Engels, PhD and vice-president of West Pharmaceutical Services, which is one of the initial partners in the SRC, will offer the supplier perspective on the SRC. 

The educational program, which runs from 1:15 to 5:15 PM on July 11, will be proceeded and followed by two important networking events. From 9:00 to 11:15 AM on July 11, DCAT will offer The Exchange, a newly created forum for biopharmaceutical, pharmaceutical, and chemical industry procurement and supply-management professionals to meet and interact with their peers. Facilitated by DCAT’s Supply Management Committee and experts from the Institute of Supply Management (ISM), participants will be able to interact in several small discussion groups to examine a variety of topics. These topics include the design of sourcing and procurement organizations, talent management, leadership competencies, risk management, decision-making, global trade, business challenges, and transformational challenges. Participants will be able to submit topic ideas to DCAT’s Supply Management Committee in advance to put a topic for discussion on the agenda. 

The Exchange is targeted for mid-career procurement and supply-management directors and senior directors, who are responsible for designing, organizing, and leading teams to ensure reliable, quality supply of goods and services at optimized costs. The Exchange is limited to DCAT member companies’ procurement and supply-management professionals. Information on the program and how to register can be found  

program will also include a luncheon beginning at 12:00 PM on July 11 and will feature keynote speaker Bill Rancic, an entrepreneur, businessman and 

best-selling author, who will discuss the challenges individuals face in the corporate arena and other issues, such as developing successful working relationships and meeting ethical challenges in business. Rancic came into prominence almost a decade ago as the first winner of the television show, 

 and subsequently worked in a management position in the construction of the Trump Tower in Chicago, He later became a prominent real-estate developer and restaurateur in Chicago. 

program, a networking reception and light dinner will follow from 5:00 to 7:00 PM on July 11. Also, a networking reception will be held on Wednesday July 10 from 8:30 PM to 10:30 PM prior to the 

 program and additional information may be found 

APIs

The upcoming DCAT Sharp Sourcing 2013 conference addresses the challenges and opportunities in pharmaceutical sourcing and procurement.

Innovation in Sourcing and Procurement

Decisions on how to build and sustain growth are at the heart of any company’s strategy. The CMO Aesica, based in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne in the United Kingdom, has used a combination of organic growth and acquisitions to grow the company from its founding in 2004 with an initial focus on contract API manufacturing to a company of approximately 1300 employees offering formulation development, API manufacturing, and finished product manufacturing and packaging. 

Aesica was founded in 2004 through a management buyout of the former BASF API manufacturing facility in Cramlington, UK. In 2006, Aesica acquired a chemical manufacturing facility from Merck & Co. in Ponders End, Enfield in the UK. In 2007, it opened a new API pilot plant at the Cramlington site and acquired a secondary manufacturing facility from Abbott (now AbbVie) in Queenborough, Kent, UK, its first foray into finished-product manufacturing. It later acquired in 2010, the formulation-development and clinical-trial manufacturing company, R5 Pharmaceuticals, in Nottingham, UK. 

These acquisitions were followed by internal investment to expand its manufacturing capabilities. In November 2011, the company opened a new $4.6-million high-potency manufacturing facility in Queenborough for formulated products. The facility, which includes suites for blending, compression, and blistering, is capable of producing SafeBridge Category 3 and Schedule II controlled drugs. The company later upgraded its API manufacturing facilities in Cramlington and Queenborough to manufacture high-potency APIs at a commercial scale in Cramlington and on small-scale in Queenborough. The new facilities can produce high-potency APIs in quantities of 1– 200 kg. Further investment in 2013 will equip Aesica to produce batch sizes up to 600 kg. The company also is completing an expansion of the capacity of its Queenborough facility by 1 billion tablets per year. It is expected to be commissioned at the end of 2013. 

Aesica most recent move, made in 2011, expanded its finished-product manufacturing capacity. It acquired the former manufacturing facilities of UCB in Monheim and Zwickau, Germany, and Pianezza, Italy to enhance its injectables and oral liquid dosage capability and to add hard-encapsulation technology. The acquisition also added to the company’s packaging capabilities and enabled it to operate a dedicated line purely for the Japanese market. With the acquisition, Aesica also secured a long-term supply agreement with UCB. 

Building its manufacturing capacity has been a focus of the company as has advancing its scientific partnerships.  In 2012, the company formed the Aesica Innovation Board, comprised of experts from within Aesica, technology-based firms, and academia, to help stimulate pharmaceutical innovation in API manufacturing, formulation development/drug delivery, and finished-product manufacturing. The goal of the partnerships is to facilitate ways in which pharmaceutical companies can operate more competitively and efficiently, overcome technical and processing barriers, establish more sustainable manufacturing methods, and innovate drug-delivery systems and/or formulations. “The Innovation Board is part of strategy to develop technology as well as create a culture for scientific and manufacturing innovation,” explains Alan Raymond, sales and marketing director at Aesica. 

To that end, Aesica formed a partnership with EmulTech to access EmulTech’s sterile emulsion technology for microencapsulation (ET4ME). EmulTech, a spinout of Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands, uses microfluidic processes to create microparticulate suspensions. The technology is used for injectables, including depot injections for sustained release, to achieve uniform droplet size, loading, and morphology. Aesica contributed an aseptic protocol in applying the technology, which was used to develop a dosage form for an acid-resistant nonsterile suspension for a particular client although the technology also can be applied to sterile products. 

In 2012, Aesica formed a pact with the Center for Pharmaceutical Engineering Science at the University of Bradford in the UK. Under the partnership, the center offers processing technologies, including hot-melt extrusion, and Aesica supplies formulation expertise and manufacturing capacity and expertise for GMP clinical-trial supplies. The company is also partnered with the University of Durham and the University of Leeds in the UK for developing new or improved routes for API manufacturing. To that end, the partners developed a detailed kinetic study and based on the study, a new flow process is being developed before being scaled up at Aesica’s Cramlington plant. Also, earlier this year, Aesica partnered with the University of Nottingham in the UK for the commercial development of routes for amide-bond synthesis.

Looking ahead, Raymond notes that the company is seeking to build its global footprint. “We are evaluating expansion in the United States to build our assets in both API and finished product manufacturing,” he says. Outside the US, the company is looking to expand into one of the BRIC (i.e., Brazil, Russia, India, China) regions, with primary emphasis on India, China, or Latin America.

Pharma Partner Focus

The CMO Aesica has used a combination of organic growth and acquisitions to build its business and is seeking to expand its geographic footprint.

Aesica in an Expansion Mode

 will contribute $750,000 to the One Million Community Health Workers Campaign, to create a new online “Operations Room” that will track the scale-up of community health workers and serve as a central database of information for the campaign, which is working with ministries of health in Africa to train, equip, and deploy health workers to provide basic healthcare. By upgrading the quality and expanding the numbers of community health worker systems to provide national coverage, the campaign hopes to help sub-Saharan African countries achieve the health-related Union Nations’ (UN) Millennium Development Goals by 2015. The Operations Room will help identify gaps in the systems and facilitate national and local government agencies’ coordination with UN agencies, private corporations, and nongovernmental organizations. The Operations Room will be located in Nairobi and Senegal in Africa New York, where the Earth Institute is based. GSK’s support will be directed to the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), which is running the One Million Community Health Workers Campaign as part of its Solutions Initiative. The SDSN is overseen by a steering committee at the Earth Institute; Earth Institute Director Jeffrey Sachs is also director of the SDSN. 

CSR and Sustainability Forum

A roundup of developments in global health and sustainability from the bio/pharmaceutical industry, its suppliers, and other public and private organizations.

Pharma News in Global Health and Sustainability

The 66th World Health Assembly (WHA), the decision-making body of the World Health Organization (WHO), was held last month in Geneva, Switzerland and concluded with agreement on a range of new public health measures. In all, 24 resolutions and five decisions were adopted by the nearly 2000 delegates representing WHO member states. The pharmaceutical industry was part of the discussions. The International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations (IFPMA), which represents research-based pharmaceutical companies and associations, weighed in on the discussions and provided input on various topics, including noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), mental and neurological disorders (MNDs), R&D for diseases of the developing world, counterfeit medicines, the global vaccine action plan, and neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). 

The WHA addressed NCDs through a global action plan for the prevention and control of NCDs (including heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer, and chronic lung diseases) by seeking to achieve nine globally agreed targets for NCDs, including a reduction in premature mortality from NCDs by 25% in 2025. The action plan also contains a monitoring framework, including 25 indicators to track mortality and morbidity, as well as ways to assess progress in addressing risk factors and evaluate the implementation of national strategies and plans. WHO was requested to develop draft terms of reference for a global coordination mechanism through a consultative process culminating in a formal meeting of WHO member states in November 2013. WHO also was tasked with providing technical support to member states and developing a limited set of action plan indicators to chart progress made with the implementation of the action plan in 2016, 2018, and 2021. 

IFPMA supports these efforts. “The Global Action Plan is a focused and pragmatic document, which recognizes the size of the challenge, identifies barriers that must be overcome, and proposes sounds approaches,” said IFPMA in a May 28, 2013 press release. “To achieve significant impact on NCDs, multistakeholder strategies are required at the global, regional, and national levels. These should be fully integrated into healthcare systems and extend beyond the traditional health sector.” 

A resolution on WHO’s mental health action plan 2013–2020 set four major objectives: strengthen effective leadership and governance for mental health; provide comprehensive, integrated, and responsive mental-health and social-care services in community-based settings; implement strategies for promotion and prevention in mental health; and strengthen information systems, evidence, and research for mental health. According to WHO, the plan sets important new directions for mental health, including a central role for provision of community-based care and a greater emphasis on human rights. It also emphasizes the empowerment of people with mental disabilities and the need to develop strong civil society and health promotion and prevention activities. The document proposes indicators and targets, such as a 20% increase in service coverage for severe mental disorders and a 10% reduction of the suicide rate in countries by 2020, which can be used to evaluate levels of implementation, progress, and impact. 

IFPMA supports the Mental Health Global Action Plan discussed at the WHA. “With annual mental and neurological disorders cases estimated at 700 million and accounting for 30% of the global NCD burden, MNDs are more than just a health issue; they should be a societal priority involving decision makers from education, employment, science, government, and other spheres,” said IFPMA in its release. To facilitate those efforts, IFPMA launched 

 an interactive website where people can explore how different stakeholders—policymakers,  researchers, patients, or relatives of someone with an MND—can play a part in addressing these disorders. 

At the WHA, WHO member states reiterated their support to the Global Vaccine Action Plan (GVAP) to prevent millions of deaths by 2020 through more equitable access to vaccines and for the proposed Framework for Monitoring, Evaluation and Accountability, which is linked to the Commission on Information and Accountability for Women’s and Children’s Health, according to WHO. Delegates also supported the independent review process to assess and report progress. Speakers highlighted the following: the need to mobilize greater resources to support low- and middle-income countries to implement the GVAP and monitor impact; ensure that support to countries to implement the GVAP includes a strong focus on strengthening routine immunization; and to facilitate vaccine technology transfer. 

 IFPMA emphasized the need to develop a holistic approach. “Looking ahead, the success of the GVAP requires a holistic approach to vaccine access that balances considerations of availability and continuity of supply, efficient management of the total cost of immunization in countries, development of adapted and safe products, and maintenance of R&D incentives to foster innovation of new vaccines that satisfy unmet medical needs from developing countries,” said IFPMA. “Greater recognition by policymakers and communities of the broader socioeconomic value of vaccination, beyond vaccine affordability and individual antigen disease burden, would be also an important step towards investing in immunization.” 

WHA delegates supported the decision to establish an open-ended working group to identify the actions, activities and behaviors that result substandard/spurious / falsely labeled/ falsified/counterfeit medical products (SSFFC) medical products. Participants highlighted the need for increased cooperation and collaboration among national and regional regulatory authorities, including the exchange of best practices and knowledge. IFPMA acknowledged its support for the working group of member states on SSFFC medical products 

At the WHA, a resolution on NTDs urged member states to ensure country ownership of prevention, control, elimination, and eradication program and calls on international partners to provide sufficient and predictable funding. It encourages greater harmonization of support to countries and the development of new technologies to support vector control and infection prevention. The resolution also calls on WHO to do the following: sustain its leadership in the fight against NTDs; to develop and update evidence-based norms, standards, policies, guidelines and strategies; monitor progress; and support member states in strengthening human resource capacity for the prevention, diagnosis, including vector control and veterinary public health. Many member states highlighted the particular importance of intensifying efforts to tackle dengue, according to WHO.

IFPMA noted the pharmaceutical industry’s efforts in addressing NTDs. In 2012, the industry announced a major commitment to donate 14 billion treatments this decade to control or eliminate nine major NTDs responsible for the 90% of the global burden and currently leads 132 R&D projects for NTDs, 85% of which are carried out in product development partnerships. IFPMA also said it welcomed a a systematic and standardized global review of both unmet needs for Type II (HIV, malaria, tuberculosis) and III (NTDs) diseases and supports identifying how current efforts can be leveraged to achieve progress on diseases disproportionately affecting the developing world, R&D flows, and research capacity. “This task will help develop a clear picture of needs, gaps and priorities and should be performed by talking, among others, to those with experience in planning and conducting R&D and those who provide significant funding,” said IFPMA.”In a time of scarce financial resources and high fragmentation, we believe that understanding key research gaps is a precondition to addressing them.”

Highlights from the 66th World Health Assembly and the pharmaceutical industry?s role in addressing noncommunicable diseases, mental and neurological disorders, R&D for diseases of the developing world, counterfeit medicines, the global vaccine action plan, and neglected tropical diseases.

PTSM: Pharmaceutical Technology Sourcing and Management-06-05-2013

A Pharma Industry Mid-Year Review and Outlook

Outsourcing's Modest Role as a Cost-Containment Strategy

Innovation in Sourcing and Procurement

Aesica in an Expansion Mode

Pharma News in Global Health and Sustainability

Pharma Industry Participates in Global Health Initiatives