Pharmaceutical Market Squeezed by Supply Chain Disruption and Lower Research Activity

SDi, part of Science and Medicine Group, is the leading research and advisory firm covering the analytical instrumentation market. In their latest report, Pharmaceutical Market Opportunity 2020, SDi evaluates the global analytical instrument market for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry amid the COVID-19 crisis.

SDi predicts pressure on pharmaceutical companies stemming from disruptions in the supply chain of active pharmaceutical ingredients in addition to a decrease in new drug development from reduced lab research activity. However, investment into COVID-19 research will drive growth during this period.

With the virus originating in China, closures among major producers of active pharmaceutical inputs (APIs) squeezed the supply of inputs by between 10-20%. India also suspended the export of key ingredients causing shortages around the world and especially in the United States.

The United States responded with legislation designed to encourage the production of domestic APIs. The Securing America’s Medicine Cabinet Act (SAM-C) expands the FDA’s Emerging Technology Program and authorizes $100 million to build centers of excellence for advanced pharmaceutical manufacturing to help therapeutic development and manufacturing in the US.

The combination of pressure from COVID-19 will affect the market on both ends. Research will be limited from the closure of labs. Bioinformatics, the leading research and advisory firm covering the life sciences market, recently conducted a survey showing that 12% of global research labs are fully operational. Half of all research labs are shut down while the rest are running at a reduced capacity. This survey also includes pharma and biotech labs, which are at the forefront of R&D for this industry. Therefore, many drug discovery processes are also hindered by the global outbreak.

However, all is not lost. The race to find a cure for COVID-19 through the development of a reliable vaccine has begun. Currently, there are 155 medicines and 70 vaccines for the novel coronavirus in the development pipeline. Genetic vaccine platforms using DNA/RNA manipulation seems to be leading the race. This type of vaccine can potentially be developed and produced more quickly than traditional vaccines. As SDi’s report shows, all of this would not be possible without analytical instruments at the heart of each discovery.

SDi’s newly published report, titled The 2020 Pharmaceutical Market Opportunity, evaluates the global analytical instrument market for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry. The report covers 74 different analytical techniques, categorized into 10 technological segments. The goal of this report is to provide a strategic perspective on the current situation and projected potential for analytical techniques used in pharmaceutical and biotech industries. Amid the coronavirus chaos, the pharma/bio sector is a unique market, as it is both hindered and stimulated by this pandemic. This report will examine the future direction of laboratory sales to pharma/bio, and how they being affected by this sudden macroeconomic impact, at least in the short term.

The 2020 Pharmaceutical Market Opportunity report can be found at https://strategic-directions.com/product/the-2020-pharmaceutical-market-opportunity-report/.