CPHI Pharma Index highlights the importance of international partnering

Survey results reveal 84% of the industry is actively searching for new partners.

The Index – an aggregated confidence score across the five main small molecule categories (API production quality, finished dose production quality, growth potential, overall competitiveness, and innovativeness) in each of the largest economies – compiled the findings from more than 550 executives and sees an overall decrease of 0.86% in score across all nations for the first time.

This is perhaps no great surprise given the global impact of COVID-19. Despite this, the Index shows that overall, pharma is in a strong position; globally, the industry has weathered the impact of the pandemic well.

Many leading pharma economies have again scored strongly in ‘innovation’ and ‘pharmaceutical quality’ and the slight fall on 2019 results reflects reduced confidence in growth rather than quality.

The major exception to the overall trend is Italy, which has seen a dramatic increase of nearly 6.3% in overall score, with its API industry widely perceived to be a primary beneficiary of global shifts in ingredient sourcing strategies.

China’s overall score has fallen (5.9%) for the first time, but the report predicts a likely dramatic bounce back in 2021, citing a gradual shift towards a pharma economy led by domestic – not international – sales.

"The scores reflect a very strong industry and a growing industry. The year-on-year score decrease is a reflection of the strength of the 2019 results, and this slight fall still points to very positive outcomes (as scores are high across all categories), particularly in the medium- and long-term,” commented Cara Turner, Brand Director at CPHI Festival of Pharma.

A particularly notable finding from the executive survey is that global pharma executives have shifted focus towards securing increased supply side partners, with 84% of the industry actively searching for new partners.

Interestingly, the starting materials maket remains ambivalent as to whether it would be beneficial to bring these home to domestic markets - 48% of respondents believe domestic production is ‘desirable’.

“What our global pharma surveys show is that the pandemic has increased the importance of finding new international partners and improving supply chain contingencies,” added Turner.