Focus on Drug Sales Abroad

As drug sales in the US slow to 1-2% growth per year, they continue to grow by double digits internationally. From 2002-2007, the developed markets (US, Canada, Japan, and the top five European markets) grew at 52% while the emerging markets (China, India, Brazil, Russia, Mexico, Turkey, and South Korea) grew by 141%. (According to IMS data in the WSJ article “Drug Firms Target Newly Rich Abroad” on 11/5/08)

The article makes good points about the ethical questions that this may create in terms of pricing and what happens when only a small portion of the population can afford essential medications.

I guess this also poses the question of whether it is better to have no one with the access or only the top 1% of the population having access.