Publications, thought leadership & studies

The dynamics of pharma outsourcing and location decisions in Asia are changing. Cost reduction is being augmented and companies need to set their strategic sights on a future world. This report highlights the dramatic change and development in pharmaceutical outsourcing in Asia.

To gauge readiness and reaction to the Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals legislation, or REACH, PwC’s International Survey Unit interviewed 241 senior executives across 6 industries in 29 countries. Overall, we found that two in five companies have limited awareness of the regulation and one in four executives believes Europe’s complex chemicals legislation will have no impact on operations.

Over a three-month period PwC conducted extensive interviews with key players in the domestic industry. We surveyed half of the top 20 pharmaceutical companies, several mid-sized and small pharmaceutical companies and a number of industry associations and distributors. Overall, our respondents included most stakeholders in the pharmaceutical industry in Australia. This report summarises and highlights the issues facing the industry.

The second paper in the PwC Pharma 2020 series, explores how pharma companies could dramatically improve the R&D productivity. It contends that by 2020 the R&D process may be shortened by two-thirds, success rates may dramatically increase, and clinical trial costs could be cut substantially. New computer based technologies will create a greater understanding of the biology of disease and the evolution of "Virtual man"; to enable researchers to predict the effects of new drug candidates before they enter human beings. Along with changes underway in the regulatory and socio-political environment, this will enable Pharma to overcome one of the most fundamental issues it needs to resolve over the next decade.

The Massachusetts life sciences “Super cluster” continues to change the face of medicine by driving research innovation, but it faces increasing competition for talent and funding from other states and countries, according to the 2008 Massachusetts Life Sciences Super cluster report, released by PricewaterhouseCoopers, the New England Healthcare Institute, the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, Xconomy and the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative.

This report is an update of the 2004 and 2005 volumes 1 and 2 of IFRS Issues and Solutions for the Pharmaceutical Industry. The objective of this new edition is to give greater clarity on various grey areas of definition and interpretation that could have been raised following the implementation of the standards in 2005.

This report on California’s biomedical industry is a collaborative effort between the California Healthcare Institute and PricewaterhouseCoopers. It offers a comprehensive overview of the impact of the biomedical sector on California’s economy and includes data on employment, wages, education and investment, as well as a snapshot of the product development pipeline.

This third publication of IFRS Issues and solutions for the pharmaceutical and life sciences industries has been prepared to stimulate discussion and represents a first step in trying to establish a common platform or framework.

This review is based on an analysis of the 2006 financial statements of 12 major pharmaceutical entities reporting under IFRS. The aim is two-fold:

-to help pharmaceutical companies to compare their disclosure against their peers'
-to help users of financial statements to interpret and understand the methods and presentational options adopted in the financial statements

This report addresses particular accounting issues the pharmaceuticals and life sciences sector faces when using the US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (US GAAP). The aim is to highlight the industry-specific factors which need to be considered, and to provide an opinion on the most pertinent accounting solutions for commercial situations under US GAAP.

An annual review of deal activity and key trends within the pharmaceutical and healthcare sector, by PricewaterhouseCoopers Corporate Finance. This report highlights some of the deals and developments that occurred in 2006 and the first half of 2007, another period of increased M&A activity. Large pharmaceutical players have been a key driver of M&A in their sustained effort to strengthen product pipelines. We have also seen continuing global consolidation in the generics arena.

Innovation is one paradox of healthcare — tremendous strides forward within a system that overall doesn't work well. Can innovation transform healthcare?

CEE Tax Notes is a periodical publication which provides update on the recent tax and regulatory changes in the CEE region.

Pharma 2020: The vision: Which path will you take? indicates that the current pharmaceutical industry business model is both economically unsustainable and operationally incapable of acting quickly enough to produce the types of innovative treatments demanded by global markets. In order to make the most of these future growth opportunities, the industry must fundamentally change the way it operates.

The report is based on in-depth interviews with 185 senior pharmaceutical executives across nine different territories in the region: China, India, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

Since 1995, PricewaterhouseCoopers has periodically surveyed the life sciences industry on its working relationship with the FDA (US Food and Drug Administration). Other surveys were conducted in 1997 and 1999. The report was co-developed by the PricewaterhouseCoopers pharmaceutical industry group and BIOCOM.

Massachusetts is a leader in the life sciences on many measures. This report provides economic analysis on trends related to employment, wages, and public funding. It also draws on information from the 2007 PwC Massachusetts Life Sciences Cluster Survey, which provides insight on future opportunities and threats from over 100 executives in all sectors of the life sciences in Massachusetts.