In today’s global market environment, payers are looking hard to reduce reimbursement and resist paying for incremental product enhancements.  On top of that, manufacturers’ revenue streams continue to be threatened by looming patent expiration dates and the simultaneous influx of generic competition.  What actions should companies consider taking to protect their existing businesses and extend their in-line products’ value?

The “patent cliff” will continue to be a significant issue for the next few years as several manufacturers risk losing up to 90% of the revenue for some of their biggest products to generic competition.  Together with the rising costs and uncertainty of creating a sufficient pipeline of new drugs to fill the gap, there is a growing pressure on manufacturers to adopt effective lifecycle management strategies for their products.