Drugs to Market

The development and marketing of drugs since the Second World War offers an exemplary demonstration of the impact of technology on competitiveness in a major industry. While focusing primarily on the market in the USA, this study examines also the activities of European firms, their contribution to the industry's technological evolution and the impact of their entry into the US market. The main concern of the book, however, is to examine all the elements which go to make up the evolving landscape of competition, and their interaction. Thus, the effects of technological change are viewed in the context of changes in the legal and regulatory environment, and in competitive practice. For both the market as a whole and the individual firm this analysis illustrates how competitive positions actually emerge as a result of such interactions. Consistent with this wider view, both the technological and the non-technological competencies of firms are discussed, and the concept of core competence is used extensively to show how individual firms developed and maintained their competitive strengths, as the industry moved from deep-tank fermentation through to the first decade of biotechnology. The final chapter highlights the key role of biotechnology in shaping the future of the industry, at a time of increased regulation and accelerating market driven change.