Pharma Emerging Markets By Application (Cardiovascular Illnesses, Diabetes, Oncologic diseases, Others) By Stage of Development (Early Development, Pre-Clinical, Clinical, Others) Regional Analysis & Forecast - 2026

Emerging markets are an exceptional opportunity for the pharmaceutical industry. Even though a precise definition is not yet available, economists defined emerging markets as developing prosperous countries where the investment is expected to show higher income despite higher risks. Qualifying a market as emerging is not only based on the economic status of the country, but also on various criteria that render the definition applicable to each country. Getting succeed in emerging markets has been a challenging undertaking for multinational pharma companies, but those that adapt their end-to-end model for emerging markets could well thrive.

Market Overview

A few years ago, slow growth in the US and European pharmaceutical markets affected many multinational pharmaceutical companies to look for new forms of growth in emerging markets. Pharmerging markets are showing chances of exponential growth, from holding an 18% market share in 2010 to a 31% share in 2020. This is the result of economic and demographic development, rising health expectancy, access to healthcare services, and improving public-private healthcare funding. It is clear that developing countries are key drivers of the global pharmaceutical market.

The most frequent emerging markets are Brazil, Russia, India, and China - commonly referred to as the ‘BRIC’ economies and other commonly included countries under the umbrella term include (MIST) Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea, Turkey, Nigeria, South Africa, and Saudi Arabia among others.  The pharmaceutical market's sales in BRICS and MIST countries were doubled in 5 years that reached a market share of approximately 20%. The shift towards these new markets has been due to the large populations, increasing life expectancy, and growing prosperity in BRICS and MIST countries.

From the past several years, life sciences companies have faced continuously the doom and gloom of the patent cliff. The loss of patents for blockbuster drugs like Lipitor, Vioxx and Zoloft were shown to impact the pharmaceutical industry’s performance. Indeed, the ratio of value created by new products entering the market versus the value lost by products going off patent declined consistently from 2002 to 2012. The pharmaceutical companies adopted strategies that want to expand in these markets must be tailored to the pace of development of each country. These countries needed drugs against infectious diseases and communicable diseases like sexually transmitted diseases. They are considered as readily exploitable territories for the innovative products of pharmaceuticals. A disproportional fast rise in the incidence of noncommunicable diseases including cardiovascular illnesses, diabetes, and oncologic diseases has been witnessed in emerging markets, mimicking their Western counterparts. The incidence of diabetes and oncologic diseases are expected to grow by 20% or more by 2030. This shows that pharmaceutical industries will also be able to market their global products in these new countries.

Key Developments

• In the case of Humira, five biosimilar offers (Mylan, Amgen, Boehringer Ingelheim, Samsung/ Biogen, and Sandoz/Hexal) have won European approval for their biosimilar version of the drug. The original drug remains protected in the US until 2023. Looking at potential vulnerability to patent expiration, we believe Roche, Novo Nordisk, and Bayer appear most exposed in Europe, as all have blockbuster drugs losing exclusivity in the relatively near future.

Drivers, Challenges, And Opportunities

The primary growth drivers in emerging markets are increased government commitment to improving healthcare access, the rising prevalence of lifestyle diseases like cancer and diabetes, and growing consumer income and wealth. Nevertheless, in just a few short years it seems as though the industry sentiment towards emerging markets has somewhat shifted. Conquering emerging markets will be challenging for industries. These challenges will be grouped into 3 categories such as infrastructure development, cost-containment policies, and value-driven drug evaluation. Top strategies supposed to overcome these challenges include adequate tailoring and a gain in the market. Sustainable demand growth in emerging pharmaceutical markets has created major opportunities. Further, local government policies designed to support domestic manufacturers have also raised various challenges and hurdles that increase competition for leaders in this sector.

It believes that innovations are one factor expected to more than mitigate negatives in the future. The following are the most promising areas of innovation:

• Immuno-oncology (best-positioned companies are Merck Inc, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., AstraZeneca PLC, Roche Holding AG, and Merck KGaA/ Pfizer Inc)


• Immunology (autoimmune diseases, rheumatology et al.; Novartis AG, Amgen Inc, Pfizer Inc, Merck & Co, Johnson& Johnson Inc, Biogen Inc, Roche Holding AG, Shire PLC, Abbvie Inc)


• Rare diseases (Gilead Sciences Inc, Sanofi SE, Shire PLC)


• Vaccines (GSK PLC, Sanofi SE, Pfizer Inc, Merck & Co)