Spectre of parallel trade looms large for the global pharmaceutical industry

As pharmaceutical companies look for new ways to maximise their revenue, the growing trend of parallel trade threatens to counter their efforts warns a new report from Urch Publishing, entitled Pharmaceutical Parallel Trade: Past and Future Scenarios.

The pharmaceutical industry has been angered by the activities of parallel traders, whom they accuse of putting their future research efforts at risk and of increasing the likelihood of dangerous counterfeit products entering the market. However, such arguments are completely refuted by parallel traders who believe that the practice is safe and that they offer consumers value for money.

Pharmaceutical parallel trade has occurred to its greatest extent within the single market of the European Union (EU) thanks to a variety of legislation encouraging the free movement of goods.

That does not mean that the practice has become any more acceptable to the pharmaceutical industry," explains report author Dr Faiz Kermani. The last thirty years have seen 24 major court cases, with both the pharmaceutical industry and parallel traders attempting to interpret national and European laws in their favour." Further expansion of the EU will see an increasing number of legal cases as pharmaceutical manufacturers try to prevent the European market being 'swamped with cheap versions of their leading products from the newer Member States.

As shown by the report, despite heavy pharmaceutical industry opposition there is also the possibility that other global regions might accept parallel trade. Certain countries such as Kenya and the Philippines have made forays into this area," remarks Dr Kermani, but the big question is whether it can ever occur in the US market - where the pharmaceutical industry derives most of its profits."

The cost of healthcare is a major election issue and patients have been angered by reports stating that the USA has the highest drug prices in the world. The pharmaceutical industry has struggled to defend itself in the face of accusations that some drugs being sold in Canada come from the same industrial plant in the USA and yet are being sold for two very different prices. Recent efforts by the major pharmaceutical companies to stem the flow of cheap drugs across the border have raised the stakes and whatever the outcome, it is bound to cause controversy.

Pharmaceutical parallel trade can be looked at from moral, economic and legal angles," explains Dr Kermani, but the most influential factor on its development will be political."

This 60,000 word strategic management publication provides the valuable market overview and data that all pharmaceutical companies and industry observers will find essential in understanding how parallel trade will affect their business and what its future impact might be.

Urch Publishing is an independent business information publisher dedicated to delivering high quality information products to the global pharmaceutical industry. Information about Pharmaceutical Parallel Trade - Past and future scenarios, including a full table of contents can be found at www.urchpublishing.com.