Bruised But Not Broken: Pharmaceutical-Biotech Industry Expects $16 Billion in 2007 Capital Projects

---

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas). With just days left before 2006 slips into the history books, it will not be soon enough for Big Pharma. The industry is only too eager to close the door on a brutal year. Industry leviathan Pfizer had hoped to begin 2007 on a high note, but instead found itself on its knees. The company was set to launch Torcetrapib, a new cholesterol drug that had analysts predicting annual profits of up to $15 billion. Of course, that changed when results of a large clinical trial, released earlier this month, showed that rather than curing people it actually increased the risk of their death. After investing an estimated $1 billion on developing a drug it cannot sell, the press had another go at the weary giant, already used to negative headlines that followed each announcement of yet another plant closure, a topic examined in greater depth in the recently released 2007 Pharmaceutical-Biotech Industry Forecast. Yet, the industry is far from terminal. A current roster of over $16 billion North American capital and maintenance projects scheduled for kick off in 2007 attests to its continued longevity.

Click on the image at right to view a breakdown of project spending for the North American Pharmaceutical-Biotech Industry by market region.

There is no question that the face of the industry is changing, however, that change does not equate with lack of growth, it is more rather a maturing of the industry. Swapping roles, the Biotech sector is reminiscent of the heady days of Pharma, as it continues it massive capital investment program to build up capacity to accommodate a fat pipeline of new drugs. Pharma, while pulling back for now on North American grassroot plant construction, is investing heavily into bolstering its research and development of new products.

The evolution of generics into a major industry sector is sure to gain momentum in the future. As consumers, insurance companies and government agencies battle high prescription drug costs, the makers of copycat drugs are successfully reaping the benefits.

It is going to be an extremely extraordinary year as the evolution of this essential industry unfolds. An observation carried in the 2006 edition of the Pharmaceutical-Biotech Industry Forecast bears repeating as yet another year gets underway…“in a speech in Cape Town, South Africa, on June 7, 1966, Robert F. Kennedy said, ‘There is a Chinese curse which says, 'May he live in interesting times.' Like it or not, we live in interesting times,’ an observation to which today’s pharmaceutical-biotech industry can no doubt relate.”

For more information on business and project spending trends, see Industrial Info's just released 2007 Pharmaceutical-Biotech Industry Forecast.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is a Marketing Information Service company that has been doing business for over 23 years. IIR is respected as the leader in providing comprehensive market intelligence pertaining to the industrial processing, heavy manufacturing, and energy-related industries throughout the world.