The pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry is in the process of consolidating and down-sizing while trying to maintain R&D productivity. Small and medium-sized companies are trying to make the most of available opportunities in niche segments.

Last year, the Biotech industry as a whole achieved much better performance than the market. Both the NASDAQ Biotech Index and AMEX Biotech Index outperformed all three major market indices (Dow Jones Industrial Average, NASDAQ Composite and S&P 500) in a large margin. The major indices declined as much as 40%. While NASDAQ Biotech Index declined only 12.6%, and AMEX Biotech Index was down 17.7%.

Lupin Ltd, one of the top five domestic pharmaceutical companies, plans to revamp its drug research programme and foray into novel biotech and reverse engineering of biotech drugs (or biosimilars).

Merger and acquisition activity within the pharmaceutical and medical device industries will likely increasingly be impacted by an uptick in the enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), attorneys told Pharmaquest.biz