The pharmaceutical industry develops and produces the drugs that underpin modern healthcare systems. Pharmaceutical research and production is one of the success stories of UK plc and the UK is dominant in research and development in Europe, having more than four times as many compounds in development as its nearest rival Switzerland.
The South East’s pharmaceutical sector is dominated by the global giants – Pfizer, GSK, sanofi-aventis, Novartis – but also boasts some of the brightest and most promising companies. Collectively the sector generates revenues of over £40 bn and employs more than 130,000 people. Approximately 22% of the UK’s pharmaceutical manufacturing companies are based in the South East. There are approximately 300 pharmaceutical companies (R&D and manufacturing) in the region.
In the South-East, as elsewhere, the pharmaceutical and therapeutics industry continues to thrive, but it is not without its challenges. Globally, the industry is the subject of intensive regulatory scrutiny (particularly in its most lucrative market, the United States) and national health services and medical insurance companies worldwide are squeezing the prices of drugs and other therapies while profits are put under further pressure by manufacturers of generic drugs. Trends in the industry have shown increased use of technology from smaller, more specialised pharmaceutical companies and a high level of merger and acquisition activity in efforts to increase efficiency and innovative capacity in the drug development process.