Growth of generic drug sales will accelerate to 14% a year

Generic companies and the drugs they produce are now an important part of the major pharmaceutical markets. The growth rate in the industry is increasing, nine of the top 10 fastest growing pharmaceutical companies are generic and the demand for cheaper drugs is increasing.

In 2004, the total world market for generic prescription drugs was $39.6 billion with a growth rate of 12%. Visiongain predicts that a similar growth rate will result in 2005 and will then increase to reach a peak of 14% in the period 2008-2010. With over 39 major drugs due to lose their patent protection before 2010, generic companies are prepared to gain even further market share.

By 2010, generic revenues will have reached $83.9 billion, with an overall 13.33% for the period 2004-2010, as estimated by visiongain. This is a high growth rate for any market and is important especially when world branded drug growth rates are beginning to falter with growth rates of only 5-7% a year expected for the same period.