Therapy Analysis - Pharma R&D Annual Review
Top companies - Glaxo regains the throne
A look at the Top 25 companies by pipeline size (see Table 2) sees GSK return to the top of the pile after a two year hiatus, brought about by the mega-merger formation of Sanofi-Aventis. The Franco-German conglomerate slips to third place this year as further post-merger consolidation takes effect. Pfizer, which despite challenging GSK in terms of sales, has previously lagged behind in terms of pipeline size, now takes the runner-up place. Its enormous increase from 2006 to 2007 can at least be partly attributed to a hitherto unseen openness about its R&D portfolio, as represented by its first ever major pipeline presentation in December last year.
It is also notable that, with the exceptions of Roche and Johnson & Johnson, all of the Top 10 'mega-pharma' companies post fairly significant increases in their pipeline sizes. Bayer will also presumably be pleased to see its debut in this league, following its recent acquisition of Schering AG. However, its tenure may be short-lived, as a glance at the table will confirm that when Akzo Nobel completes the sale of its pharmaceutical division Organon to Schering-Plough, the new entity will leap up to number 8, at least until any further consolidation takes place.
As well as Schering AG, Bioaccelerate and Crucell leave the Top 25 this year, while Merck KGaA and Genentech make entrances, the former with a big rise from number 35 last year and a pipeline size increase from 30 to 72 following its acquisition of Serono. The only company to enter this year's Top 25 without the benefit of a major takeover is Genentech; its pending acquisition of Tanox will boost its portfolio by a further 8 products.
In a further sign of brightening prospects for pharma, there has been a very significant increase in the total number of companies involved in pharma R&D, which this year stands at 1,769, a full 136, or 8.3%, up on last year's total. This again represents a surge following what appeared to be a tapering off of the traditional annual increase, as can be seen by Graph 3. It also means that, despite a huge amount of merger and acquisition activity, the number of companies undertaking pipeline development has virtually doubled in a decade.
Another good indicator of the health or otherwise of the industry is the number of companies with just 1 or 2 R&D projects, as these roughly equate to a survey of the number of emerging companies. Whereas both of these figures declined for the first time in 2006, in 2007 they both post robust increases. The figure for companies with one pipeline drug now stands at 477, up massively from 389 last year, with the respective years' numbers of companies with two R&D projects coming in at 284 and 261. These figures provide further evidence of an industry that is once again in a period of expansion.
