Entrepreneurs in the pharmaceutical industry have greatly changed the competitive landscape. Entrepreneurs are becoming more and more crucial in pharmaceuticals mostly because of the creation of generics. Most of the entrepreneurs found in the pharmaceutical industry are generic drug companies. There is really not much else available for entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs are about creation and growth (Isenberg 2012). That is why they are such competition for the big pharmaceutical companies. The big companies are making the products, but the entrepreneurs are making generics of those products, advertising them well, and doing most of the research and development work. Most of the research and development in the pharmaceutical industry is done by the entrepreneurs. This gives the entrepreneurs another competitive advantage because since they do the research, they know about all the current trends and opportunities in the industry. They get to act on it first and become more successful. Daniel Isenberg of Babson Global reports that "generic pharmaceutical entrepreneurs create economic and social value around the world - without innovation" (Isenberg 2012). This shows that even around the world pharmaceutical entrepreneurs are valued, and the fact that they are valued economically and socially means that they are very successful. The big companies in pharmaceuticals have a lot to compete with in this industry. It looks like entrepreneurs have the competitive advantage right now, and it makes me very curious to see how this plays out in the future. The big pharmaceutical companies really have to start doing some more work to compete with the entrepreneurs. They need to do more research and development as well as keep patents on thier drugs so generics do not steal them. It takes more than just being a multi-million dollar company and releasing a few big drugs. Now that the entrepreneurs are really getting themselves into the industry, the big name companies have to step it up a notch.
Isenberg, Daniel (2012). Entrepreneurship Outperforms Innovation. Retrieved from http://www.businessweek.com/debateroom/archives/2012/02/entrepreneurship_outperforms_innovation.html#share
R&D is a huge differentiation in the pharmaceutical industry. as you said, it is great for entrepreneurs to be noticed and sell more than the competitors. it is also great for new innovation in the pharmaceutical industry. companies and entrepreneurs are selling the same thing as their competitors, but with new R&D people are going towards their products, instead of substitutes.
ReplyDelete