New chemical entity output of the international pharmaceutical industry from 1970 to 1992

A database has been established that contains confidential information, together with publicly available data, on various aspects of the development of 1106 new chemical entities and biological compounds (including products of biotechnology) first marketed as medicines since 1970 on one or more of 20 major international markets. These data have been used to examine the performance of the European, U.S., and Japanese pharmaceutical industries by examining the numbers and types of new medicines reaching the marketplace from 1970 to 1992 and the companies responsible for introducing them. Although the European marketing companies dominate in total numbers first marketed over this period, there has been a significant decline in their annual output. In contrast, the Japanese companies have shown a significant increase in the number of new compounds marketed annually. However, European marketing companies remain the most successful in terms of sales because they are responsible for first marketing approximately 50% of the top 50 products by international sales in 1992. The main therapeutic areas of output by all three regions have remained relatively unchanged over the 23-year period: cardiovascular system (21%), nervous system (18%), and anti-infectives (16%). This article provides insight into the changing status of the international pharmaceutical industry over the last 23 years in terms of output from research and development.