Pharma Times
| World News | December 15, 2011
By Kevin
Grogan
Ratings agency Fitch has
issued a report saying the pharmaceutical sector will "continue to
experience significant operating challenges" in 2012 but while issuing a
negative outlook, it will still be one of the highest-rated industries.
The new analysis says that the
15 global pharmaceutical companies covered by Fitch will suffer during 2012 as
they contend with "an unprecedented period of patent expiration",
plus increasing government cost-containment and demand pressures,
"stemming from relatively high unemployment and low consumer
confidence". The industry will feel the effect of the loss of market
protection for four of the 10 leading medicines in 2012, with a value of more
than $50 billion, affecting Eli Lilly, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Pfizer the
most, through patent losses on Zyprexa (olanzapine), Plavix (clopidogrel) and
Lipitor (atorvastatin), respectively.
