$1.3 TRILLION in pharma sales?

That's what PricewaterhouseCoopers predicts in worldwide prescription drug sales by the year 2020. But it looks like Big Pharma might need to change how they do business. From the San Francisco Chronicle article:

Pharmaceutical giants that stick with that blockbuster model will be edged out by nimble, innovative companies that tailor their drugs to specific patient populations and advance the standard of care, the report says.

If the current global drug market of $520 billion more than doubles by 2020, the rise will not necessarily make health costs unaffordable, Farino said. New drugs could be cost-effective if they work better, help patients avoid more expensive treatments or hospitalization, and save health insurance payers money in the long term, Farino said.

In the United States, prescription products accounted for 10.1 percent of the nearly $2 trillion spent on health care in 2005. Hospital spending claimed 33 percent of all expenditures, according to government figures cited by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Do your CME activities routinely address pharmacoeconomics? Click here to read the entire article.