Glaxo Plays Catch-Up to Rivals in Emerging Markets ‘Land Grab’

It is well established that IMS (and others) project that the largest pharma growth over the next 5 -10 years will occur in so-called pharmerging markets - particularly the BRIC countries.  In today's blog post from PharmaGossip below, GSK states it is playing catch up in the two plum markets China & Russia.

PharmaGossip: Glaxo Plays Catch-Up to Rivals in Emerging Markets ‘Land Grab’ - BusinessWeek.

Thus, it is racing rival companies like Novartis, Sanofi, and AstraZeneca to grab market position in these potentially lucrative countries. This doesn't seem to be an idle concern as GSK reports that its sales jumped by 50% in 2008 in emerging economies to about $4.4 billion.  The company is adding 30,000 sales reps in these areas to help fuel this growth.

GSK is not only entering these markets.  It s playing for market share by aggressively cutting pricing by 50% or more.  It's willing to sacrifice margins to gains shares of 50% or more. GSK management say it is critical to increase volumes at lower margins and is willing to do what it takes in terms of putting reps on the ground.

Abbas Hussain, president for emerging markets, says "You can't be half-pregnant in these markets. You either go for it, and realize you need huge portfolios, big scale, reach and distribution, and be willing to innovate, or you decide you're going to be a boutique player".

Let the land rush begin.

Posted by Bruce Lehr May 18th 2010.

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[bigredbruce]

Seeking Alpha summarizes all recent action wth regard to deal making by Big Pharma in Inda.
http://seekingalpha.com/article/207310-big-pharma-eyes-india