Novartis continues to dominate, Sanofi returns to the Top 10!

According to the latest data from Pharmaprojects, as of January 2021, the number of new drugs under research worldwide was 18,582, a year-on-year increase of 4.

The drug information under research included in the Pharmaprojects database specifically refers to drug research and development projects currently under research, including pre-clinical research projects, clinical research projects, registration review projects, and new indications that are already on the market.

Under the influence of the new crown epidemic, what are the changes in the roles played by large and small pharmaceutical companies in the development of new drugs?

Big pharmaceutical company

Self-research is very important, mergers and acquisitions are still sharp

Novartis has ranked first in the number of drugs under research in the world for five consecutive years

Roche ranked second, with the number of drugs under research increasing from 174 in 2020 to 227 in 2021, with a net increase of 53

Takeda's ranking declined slightly, from the second place in 2020 to the third place, but the number of drugs under research has not changed significantly

  With its two acquisitions of Theracon and Array BioPharma in 2019, Pfizer ranked sixth

  Sanofi returned to the TOP10, rising from 11th to 10th in 2020

The number of mergers and acquisitions has grown against the trend: more than the previous two years

  Among the TOP10 companies, other related M&A activities are relatively calm: Novartis acquired The Medicines with a transaction value of approximately $9.

  Judging from the current situation, face-to-face negotiation activities may not be as long as in previous years, and IPO activities have become more difficult.

TOP25 newcomers, disappearers, counter-attackers

  In addition, Gilead has increased the scale of drugs under research from 73 in 2020 to 95 through the purchase of immune drugs, and the ranking has also risen from 22nd in 2020 to 16th this year

Small pharmaceutical company

Increased status may not be "stopped"

Record number of new constructions, more disappearances

  
  On the other hand, the number of global pharmaceutical companies with drug projects under research continues to increase, from 1,198 in 2001 to 5,099 in 2021
.
In terms of growth rate, the number of global pharmaceutical companies will increase by 5.
9% in 2021, a decrease from the 11.
4% increase in 2020
.

  
  The increase in the number of global pharmaceutical companies is mainly dependent on the increase in newly established R&D companies
.
In the past year, the number of newly established pharmaceutical and biotechnology R&D companies broke the historical record, reaching 1,055.
This also means that more than one-fifth of the companies in 2020 are new entrants, compared with the previous year.
The number is only 809
.
Considering that the actual number of new companies in 2021 is only 283, this means that in the past year, 772 companies have disappeared due to mergers, write-offs, failures and other reasons, while in 2020 the number was only 316
.
 

The contribution of small pharmaceutical companies to R&D continues to increase

  
  The explosive growth of newly established R&D companies has not been reflected in the changes in the number of small pharmaceutical companies
.
According to statistics, the number of companies with only one drug under research is consistent with the 2020 statistics, both of 1,849; the number of companies with two drugs under research is 733; the proportion of the two is 50.
6%
.
In comparison, the number of these small pharmaceutical R&D companies in 2020 is 2,584, accounting for 53.
7%
.
  

  Overall, the number of drugs developed by small pharmaceutical R&D companies with one or two drugs under development continues to increase in the number of new drugs under research worldwide
.
    

Geographical distribution

China's unabated momentum is the only bright spot

  
  In 2021, the geographic distribution (headquarters) of pharmaceutical R&D companies will not change significantly from 2020
.
The US market still accounts for half of the global pharmaceutical R&D companies, accounting for 46%, which is the same as in 2020
.
Europe's share also continues to remain at around 25%
.
Among them, the proportion of France remained basically unchanged (3%); the proportion of Germany has increased, from 2% in 2020 to 3%; the proportion of the United Kingdom has declined, from 6% in 2020 to 5%
.
In addition, Canada's share continues to remain at about 4%
.
  As the main source of power for global new drug research and development, the share of the United States and Europe has remained basically unchanged, while the share of Asia has increased from 24% in 2020 to 25% in 2021 .
  
  

  Among them, China continues to maintain its position as the world's second largest pharmaceutical research and development country
.
In 2021, the number of new drug R&D companies headquartered in China accounted for the proportion of global drug R&D companies, which has increased from 8% in 2020 to 9%
.
The number of Chinese new drug companies engaged in new drug research and development included in the Pharmaprojects database has increased from 422 in 2020 to 522, a net increase of 100, an increase of 23%; in 2020, the increase was 41%, and the number of companies was 121.
Home
.
  

  The proportion of companies in the rest of the Asia-Pacific region and Japan remained basically unchanged, at 13% and 3%, respectively
.
  

  Judging from the actual geographical distribution of pharmaceutical R&D projects in 2021, the United States accounted for the largest proportion, about 55%, and about 10,260 drugs out of 18,582 drugs under research have had experience in research and development in the United States
.
Surprisingly, about one-sixth of the drugs have been developed in China, and some projects were developed in China even 10 years ago
.
In the European market, the UK is still the main region for drug trials, followed by Germany and France
.
In Asia, the Japanese market is an important new drug research and development area, but only 7% of drugs have been developed in Japan
.

  
  On the whole, except for China to maintain growth, the pharmaceutical industries in other countries or regions have basically maintained their previous status
.