PharmaGossip (via WSJ) reports that Moody's in a new report is down on the near term prospects of the global pharma industry as a whole. Acording to them, pharma is facing three very large hurdles: record patent expiry's, high regulatory hurdles to new drug approvals, and austerity measures around the world aimed at controlling durg prices and medical spending.
PharmaGossip: Who Will Make the First Pharma M&A Move? - WSJ.com.
The agency is predicting the industry will still continue to engage in M&A activity and will use more debt financing to do so -- even if this approach produces credit-rating consequences. It further notes that the pharma industry is still less leveraged on average than other industries. Finally, the report predicts that generics, consumer health, vaccines and emerging markets will be places Big Pharma looks to diversify into. As I've mentioned several times previously in this blog, Roche refuses to follow this path except into emrging markets -- from my perspective to its credit.
Posted by Bruce Lehr November 22nd 2010.
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