Report: Pharma Research Productivity Undercounted

In a new analysis, pharmaceutical market research company EvaluatePharma in London, U.K. says current methods of measuring productivity of the industry miss a big part of the industry’s output and thus give a misleading picture. The report suggests the pharma industry is in better shape than most observers indicate.

EvaluatePharma says most industry watchers count the numbers of new drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER), the agency’s main regulator of over-the-counter and prescription drugs. The company claims these counts miss new approvals issued by FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER), which includes many blood and vaccine products.

Last year, says EvaluatePharma, CDER approved 21 new drugs, while CBER approved five biologics, raising the total to 26. Among the new biologics approved by CBER were Dendreon’s Provenge, a prostate cancer vaccine, and Pfizer’s pneumococcal vaccine, Prevnar 13. The report calls these two drugs “likely blockbusters.”

EvaluatePharma points out as well that the pharma industry is getting better at choosing high-value drug targets, and while the number of new approvals may be dropping, sales of new drug products remains high. The report found 2010 sales of drugs approved in 2004 reach $11.6 billion. This “class of 2004” drugs include best-sellers such as Avastin, Spiriva, and Lyrica.

The report indicates that anticipated approval rates in 2011 for biologics and new molecular entities (NMEs) — active ingredients never before marketed in the United States in any form — point to another high-value class of products, as in 2004. EvaluatePharma estimates FDA will approve 23 NMEs and 5 new biologicals in 2011. These rates point to strong fifth-year sales, as occurred with the 2004 class.

While the overall industry picture may be better than reported, EvaluatePharma notes that the industry still faces challenges from declining R&D productivity and rising costs of drug development.

Read more. NSF: Companies Investing in R&D Made More Innovations

Photo: Jorge Franganillo/Flickr

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