Pharmaceutical industry has been in business for many years. It produces, develops, and sells drugs. Pharmaceutical companies operate with license and sell the licensed drugs. There have been existing competitions in the industry which has led to “me to drug” which are drugs with similar chemical compound but different brand name. There are different laws and regulations regarding the selling and production of drugs, and this ensures safety of individuals. The industry has progressed and those who are in the industry have grown rich within short time. This business has great income and many growth opportunities.

Prospect of going forward

Historically, pharmaceutical industry has been going forward for making huge profit. From 2002 to 2006, the industry has grown with great impact. The business deals with medicine and people have a great demand for the product. Many people from different parts of world need medication. In America, the industry has grown faster because as people grow old, they tend to use medication to keep them alive and healthy. Mostly, old people have to use some prescribed drugs all the time. After the Second World War, there was baby boom; many people gave birth hence increasing the population. The increase in population has increased the market for drugs. In each family, they use drugs and if a family has many children, it means that those children will need drugs as well (Angell, 2004).

Introduction of new drugs has also caused the increases in market and growth of the industry. In 1997, a new drug called Lipitor was introduced, and this increased the sales making about 90% profit. In 2006, the drug became popular and made a lot of profit. The increase in the market of the industry also comes about due to the increase in the spreading of sickness. The advancement of technology leads to the increase and emergency of new body defects and diseases. This leads to introduction of new drugs which seems to be liked by many people from different sides of the world (Angell, 2004).


The pharmaceutical industry has many opportunities because the drug market cannot end. People always take drugs, and many of the people in the world depend on drugs for their life like the diabetic, asthmatic, HIV positive, and depressed people among others. Those groups of people use drugs on daily basis, and they depend on drugs for their survival, and this means that when they stop using drug, they can die. Those groups of people are prominent customers of the industry. The increase and emergency of new deformities has led to the increase in the demand of medicine, and this in turn leads to the increase in production and sells. There are other diseases which have not been cured by any medicine till the present day and this gives an opportunity to the industry. Many people are living with cancer and HIV virus with a hope of getting curable medicine. The industry is doing research on the same in order to come up with appropriate cure of those deadly diseases. When the industry succeeds, it can get a lot of income because millions of people are waiting for medicine to buy without considering the cost (Cassels, 2005).


There is a number of threats to counter the growth of the industry. Political influence on the cost and supply of drugs can affect the industry. The government has been regulating the cost and manufacturing of drugs to make all people get the same treatment despite of the social class. Many people lost their life because of a lack of enough money to get medical care, that is why the government has introduced price control policy. Most of developing countries have introduced price control policy, but in America, it does not exist yet. The price control leads to slow growth (Broke, 2005).

Other risk in the industry is the issue of patent. Many countries have been facing the challenge of introduction of new methods of curing apart form drugs. The industry has been challenging this issue since 2006. The industry has faced change due to studies which showed that some drugs cause heart attack. Those drugs include Vioxx and Bextra. They were eliminated from the market in 2004, and this made the industry to face a lot of loss and rejection of drugs by people. Many people lost their faith in the drugs, because they realized that the drugs may cause other diseases. People preferred using home-made drugs (Cassels, 2005).

Reaction to exploit the opportunities and counter the threats

In order to advance in making profit, pharmaceutical industry should employ only professionals who will assist in introduction of the new drugs to have significant effect to the body. The marketing department should be effective and employ new modes of marketing with minimum cost. This is because a lot of money is used in marketing and research. The key people in the profession should have a governing policy to regulate the sales in order to minimize unhealthy competition (Broke, 2005).

In order to counter the threats, pharmaceutical industry should manufacture drugs of all types in order to suit different classes of people. The industry should collaborate with the government to ensure that those who are in the industry are licensed and authorized to handle drugs (Angell, 2004).


Each industry faces competition and, in any business, competition is mandatory in order to produce high quality products. Pharmaceutical industry is not excluded from this competition, and it should make sure that it produces high quality drugs in order to win the competition. The professionals in the industry enjoy fast growth of their business, and they should practice according to code of ethics.

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