Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences

Transactions should trend at an active pace during 2013 as pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies seek acquisitions in select asset classes and medical device and diagnostics companies evaluate new growth strategies.

The ratings culture in the US has exploded in the last decade with consumers turning to reviews for dining, shopping, vacationing, and even home improvements. Now, as they spend more of their own money on health and wellness, consumers are beginning to search for rating systems to guide their decision making.

The healthcare industry is projected to experience a shortage in qualified information technology (IT) talent at a time when Health IT, or HIT, is increasingly critical to meeting business needs, consumer expectations, and regulatory requirements while capitalizing on new growth prospects.

Biopharmaceutical companies are expanding into emerging markets, sometimes without involving supply chain operations. The operational function (operations) should play a strategic role in emerging market expansion planning.

Merger and acquisition deal value in the pharmaceutical and life sciences sector declined during the fourth quarter 2012, but transaction volume increased as acquiring firms looked to expand product offerings and geographic reach.

The demand for higher value from pharmaceuticals and medical devices is increasing. Risk-based monitoring can reduce the development time of safe and effective products at lower cost.

Final regulations regarding a 2.3% excise tax on US medical device sales from the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 gave little clarification on potential accounting impacts.

PwC shares strategic insights for the industry                        

With an era of high growth and profitability in the Medtech industry having given way to slower growth and flat profits, operating performance is becoming a critical driver of shareholder value for Medtech companies.