Face-lifting biopharma industry image

Emerging markets are gaining more importance than ever, led by China, considering the scales of volumes they offer. With time and cost of development significantly reduced, the pharma companies can launch the products at affordable prices.

Dr Neel Fofaria, Partner, MP Advisors, India

According to a market research expert, most people do not have any real opinion on the biopharma industry, for them it just exists; and the ones who have an opinion, it is not a positive one. This is counter-intuitive, especially for an industry that works on the premise of saving lives and impacts each and every individual several times throughout their lifetime.One reason for the negative opinion is the growing distrust due to high costs of available therapies and lack of transparency in the market place and the overall healthcare system, contributed by cost-intensive new drug development and conservative regulatory guidelines.

With all negative impacts, COVID-19 pandemic gives an opportunity for the biopharma industry to transform its image. It is the only industry that can deliver a solution and the timing of the pandemic is propitious as the science has substantially matured and put into practice. The scale of such a united response from biopharma against COVID-19 is something that has never been witnessed in history.