Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) recently announced that the company will purchase the pharmaceutical arm of Belgium’s Solvay Group for $6.5 billion. This deal expands both the company’s product range and the company’s presence in fast-growing emerging countries, helping defer the effect of patent expiries and compensate for sluggish growth in its traditional markets, such as the United States.

We also have the recent $442 million paid by Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) for 18% of Crucell ADR (NASDAQ: CRXL). This will give Johnson & Johnson the development rights on a flu vaccine designed to protect against all future strains of the virus. This deal confirms the company’s move into vaccines, alongside drugs and consumer products.

These deals are further confirmation of the consolidation trend that is occurring right now in the global pharmaceutical industry.

One major factor driving the consolidation trend is the slowdown in sales of pharmaceuticals, particularly in the United

The shape of the global market for pharmaceuticals is undergoing a rapid change. As recently as 2006, more than half of the market growth was in the United States. This data comes from IMS Health, a consultancy which is a leading provider of pharmaceutical trends.

However, the necessity for the pharmaceutical industry to develop new markets is urgent. The latest forecasts from IMS Health suggests that global sales in the industry will grow by just 2.5 – 3.5 percent this year, the smallest expansion it has ever recorded. The United States – which still accounts for two-fifths of all revenues – will decline by 1-2 percent.

The figures from IMS Health did highlight one source of optimism for pharmaceutical companies – the seven countries IMS Health calls the “pharemerging countries” – China, Brazil, India, Russia, Turkey, South Korea and Mexico. The potential for the pharma companies to increase their revenues is enormous

Emerging Market for Pharma

Tony Daltorio, The Investment U Research Team

The shape of the global market for pharmaceuticals is undergoing a rapid change.

As recently as 2006, more than half of the market growth was in the United States. This data comes from IMS Health, a consultancy that is a leading provider of pharmaceutical trends.

However, the necessity for the pharmaceutical industry to develop new markets is urgent. The latest forecasts from IMS Health suggests that global sales in the industry will grow by just 2.5 – 3.5 percent this year, the smallest expansion it has ever recorded. The United States – which still accounts for two-fifths of all revenues – will decline by 1-2 percent.

Many large pharma companies are now realizing that a lot of future growth is likely to occur outside of what used to be

Drug Companies: A Powerhouse of Profits

by The Investment U Research Team

A couple of interesting news items came out in the past few days. One, a research report showing how expensive treatment is for childhood mental issues. It also showed that in 2006 over 13 million children were treated for asthma at a cost of $8 billion.

The other a study that finds more Americans than ever are taking some sort of prescription for mental illness – 73% more than in 1996.

What’s interesting, apart from the fact that we seem to be overmedicating as a society, is that the numbers of patients and the costs of treatments spell hundreds of billions in profits for healthcare and drug makers.

Taking a look at the eleven largest, we find that their market caps total almost $900 billion. That’s a