PM360 Product Manager Survey August 2011

THE INDUSTRY

An overview of the factors that had the most impact on the industry in the past year and what will impact the industry in the upcoming year.

The relative importance of the main factors shaping the pharma industry hasn’t changed much in a year (Figure 12).

Concern over the regulatory environment still leads the list, though that lead is narrowing: it got a 32% rating (on our rather complicated 100-point-must scoring system) for 2011, down from 49% in 2009. There are two probable reasons for this: first, 2009 was a swirl of anxiety over regulatory and reimbursement restructuring; and second, we’ve started tracking two additional concerns this year. The new concerns are filling the product pipeline (coming in second, with a 22% rating) and outsourcing (trailing the pack with a 6% rating). Pipeline issues narrowly edge out the political environment (the perennial second-place concern in past years), which drops to third place with a 19% rating. Merger activity and competition are virtually tied (as they were in 2010), sharing fourth place with 11% and 10% ratings, respectively.

Write-in candidates included pressure from generics and payers (tied for the lead), the economy and price pressure (following just behind), and concerns about the supply chain.

We did ask how respondents see these factors affecting the industry in the next year. The answer is that the relative importance of these factors will not change: regulation, the product pipeline, and the political environment will call the dance in 2012.

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