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Article: Big pharma ex-growth.
- Article from:
- Investors Chronicle - magazine and web content
- Article date:
- December 17, 2007
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 FT Business. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Themes for 2008: Big pharma stocks now look like yield plays rather than growth stocks Richard Hemming
Earlier this decade and in the 1990s the ethos was merge or die and big pharma got even bigger. The last wave of mergers in the sector led to the top 10 pharmaceutical companies reaching close to 50 per cent global market share.
But the reality is that size has not reduced the patent expiries of blockbuster drugs and the consequent threat from generic drugs. Big pharma is also extremely vulnerable to health and safety concerns for pharmaceutical products.
Shareholders reacted, sending share prices spiralling. In the past 12 months the share ...