LONDON – April 14, 2008 - The pharmaceutical industry in Europe is struggling with various challenges such as price pressures and severe competition from generics companies. This is marking it a market with strong growth with respect to automation and control solutions. As awareness about the ways in which various automation solutions can reduce the impact of the challenges faced by the pharmaceutical companies increases, automation vendors might be assured of a steady market in the pharmaceutical industry.
New analysis from Frost & Sullivan, Automation and Control Solutions in the European Pharmaceutical Market, finds that the market earned revenues of USD 906 million in 2006, increasing to USD 952.5 million in 2007 and estimates this to reach USD 1.415 billion in 2013. “Compliance to various regulations such as the 21 CFR part 11 regulation and Current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) put forth by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) remains a major factor propelling growth in the ACS market,” comments Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Shweta Shanker.
“At the same time, operational efficiency in terms of bringing down production costs, reducing time to market and increasing flexibility in production is also a strategic reason for pharmaceutical companies to invest in automation solutions.” The pharmaceutical industry in Europe is suffering from severe cost containment and pricing pressures, pressuring market participants to examine various methods of reducing production costs and achieve greater efficiency in their production process. While lean manufacturing, six sigma and outsourcing of manufacturing to low-cost regions offer possible approaches to realising these goals, many pharmaceutical companies are also opting for automation solutions as a strategy towards gaining enhanced operational efficiency.
The pharmaceutical industry has traditionally been wary of automation and software and has preferred paper-based records due to the necessity of having to comply with stringent regulations imposed by governing bodies. Pharmaceutical companies are inclined to be conservative in adopting automation solutions, as they feel that any changes in their manufacturing processes would require additional validation of such new methods and therefore pose a challenge in compliance. “Pharmaceutical companies are content to use paper-based records and installed legacy systems rather than shift to newer technologies and automation systems,” remarks Ms. Shanker.
“Hence, automation vendors face a major challenge in overcoming the conservative attitude of the pharmaceutical industry towards adopting automation solutions.” Higher levels of interaction with clients to accurately assess their automation requirements and creating greater awareness regarding the return on investment would help alleviate the concerns of the pharmaceutical industry about automation solutions. With the FDA encouraging risk-based manufacturing and the adoption of automation solutions, automation vendors should be emboldened to work towards minimising the impact of this challenge.
Automation and Control Solutions in the European Pharmaceutical Market is part of the Industrial Automation and Process Control Growth Partnership Services programme, which also includes research in the following markets: Chinese Distributed Control Systems Markets, Automation and Software Markets in Indonesia, Automation and Control Solutions in the South African Metal and Mining Industry and Automation and Control Solutions Markets in Eastern Europe. All research included in subscriptions provide detailed market opportunities and industry trends that have been evaluated following extensive interviews with market participants. Interviews with the press are available.Frost & Sullivan, the Global Growth Consulting Company, partners with clients to accelerate their growth.
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