Fragmentation in the biopharmaceutical industry

Abstract

The large number of biopharmaceutical mergers and acquisitions (M&A) that occurred over the past decade has generated questions about whether the industry is consolidating around too-few players, negatively impacting both the number of medicines developed and overall innovation. However, closer examination of the level of biopharmaceutical consolidation by prescription sales shows that the industry was more fragmented in 2015 than in 2003. The trend towards increasing fragmentation is also observed across noncommercial and independent metrics over the same time period. The number and size of M&A deals has masked an active and competitive marketplace in which market growth and the number of companies entering the market exceeded the apparent reduction in the number of players caused by acquisitions.