Pharma sector optimism growing
pharmafile | September 8, 2010 | News story | Sales and Marketing | Eversheds, economic climate
Pharma execs are more confident about the sector’s outlook than they were at the start of the year.
A survey of 1,000 executives across 14 different business sectors was conducted by law firm Eversheds to find out how confident they were about their business compared with the beginning of 2010.
Executives in chemicals/pharmaceuticals were among the most optimistic of the sectors. The survey found that confidence levels had risen 42% in the sector, second only behind execs in the food, drink and tobacco sectors, who registered a 50% rise in confidence.
‘Professional services’ was the least confident sector, and the only one which had become more pessimistic, reporting a -2% drop in confidence.
Eversheds’ ‘tools for recovery’ report says pharma and chemicals businesses have invested in three areas – products and services (48%), CRM activity (45%) and increasing staff reorganisations (45 per cent).
The survey shows a great variation in confidence between different countries and regions; a full 83% of executives in China felt confident, while those in the US scored just 28 per cent.
Outlined also are the tough measures taken by pharma – 55% of businesses reported cutting discretionary spending, 38% freezing or cutting pay and 39% making redundancies. There is, however, funding for mergers and acquisitions – One in five executives said their business will be looking at potential acquisitions within the next year.
Janet Knowles, partner and head of the life sciences team at Eversheds, said: “While economists have signalled the official ending of the recession, there is little doubt that challenging economic conditions persist,” before adding: “Despite this backdrop, most pharmaceutical companies have survived and even thrived.”
Knowles adds: “The findings show that businesses in this sector are more confident today than they were at the beginning of the year and are taking steps to tackle the challenging economic climate. There are encouraging signs of a general trend towards reducing cost-cutting measures in the year ahead and a greater desire to invest and focus on growth.”
Brett Wells
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