From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The
pharmaceutical industry
produces
medicine
s.
Companies
discover, develop, produce, and market
drugs
for use as
medications
. They aim to
cure
and
prevent
diseases, or to control
symptoms
.
[1]
[2]
Some are given to
patients
by
healthcare
workers. Some may be managed by patients themselves. Some drugs need a
prescription
to be bought. Drugs that do not require a prescription are called "
over the counter
" medications.
Pharmaceutical companies
may deal in
generic
or
brand
medications and medical devices. They are subject to many laws and regulations that govern the
patenting
, testing, safety, efficacy using drug testing and
marketing of drugs
. Across the world treatments worth $1,228.45 billion were produced in 2020. There was a compound annual
growth rate
of 1.8% in the industry..
[3]
Producing medicines starts with making active pharmaceutical
ingredients.
They are then turned into doses ready for patients. Inactive ingredients such as
preservatives
are added, usually in a different
factory.
Then they are sent to
distribution centres
. Most of the manufacturing is done in Indian and Chinese factories. Factories may be inspected by the
FDA
, or similar organisations to check for
quality
.
In the 2020s there were repeated shortages of many generic medicines . These are off-
patent
. They are much cheaper than the new medicines which are covered by a patent, which lasts for up to 20 years. 91% of drugs prescribed in the US and 70% in Europe in 2023 were generics.
Profit
on these drugs is very low. There are not many different suppliers for many drugs. The
supply chains
are not very strong. When there are shortages
less developed countries
may get none. There are sometimes other medicines which can be
substituted
if there are supply problems. It may take a long time for a new supplier to start up. Sometimes patients come to harm because the medicine they need is not available.
[4]
- ↑
McGuire, John L.; Hasskarl, Horst; Bode, Gerd; Klingmann, Ingrid; Zahn, Manuel (2007). "Pharmaceuticals, General Survey".
Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry
. Wiley.
doi
:
10.1002/14356007.a19_273.pub2
.
ISBN
978-3527306732
.
- ↑
Bozenhardt, Erich H.; Bozenhardt, Herman F. (18 October 2018).
"Are You Asking Too Much From Your Filler?"
.
Pharmaceutical Online
(Guest column). VertMarkets.
Archived
from the original on 17 November 2020
. Retrieved
30 October
2018
.
The core mission of the pharmaceutical industry is to manufacture products for patients to cure them, vaccinate them, or alleviate a symptom, often by manufacturing a liquid injectable or an oral solid, among other therapies.
- ↑
Markets, Research and (2021-03-31).
"Global Pharmaceuticals Market Report 2021: Market is Expected to Grow from $1228.45 Billion in 2020 to $1250.24 Billion in 2021 - Long-term Forecast to 2025 & 2030"
.
GlobeNewswire News Room
(Press release).
Archived
from the original on 29 November 2021
. Retrieved
2021-11-29
.
- ↑
"The world's broken market for medicines"
.
www.ft.com
. Retrieved
2024-03-28
.