Innovation deficit revisited: reflections on the productivity of pharmaceutical R&D

Consolidation continues to be a major feature of the pharmaceutical industry, largely due to the impact of the 'innovation deficit'. The author performs a healthcheck on the industry by examining recent productivity in the industry in terms of the number and quality of new chemical entities introduced in 1996 and 1997. He argues that compared with an earlier projection of statistical data assembled for 1993, the industry situation appears better than was expected, however, the fundamental problem of an innovation deficit remains.