Pharmaceuticals for the World: Industry and the Healthcare Policy in Germany

摘要

The pharmaceutical market in Germany is extremely heterogeneous. The pharmaceutical landscape comprises small and medium-sized and owner-managed businesses, national groups and the German subsidiaries of multinational businesses. They consist of companies that manufacture and distribute medicinal and/or diagnostic products and manufacturers whose production involves biotechnology processes. According to the companies register, Germany's pharmaceutical sector is dominated by nearly 1,000 mostly well established medium-sized pharmaceutical companies and young biotech companies. In Germany, 90percent of companies manufacturing pharmaceutical products employ fewer than 500 staff. In 2005, the pharmaceutical industry in Germany produced pharmaceutical goods worth E 22.7 billion. Production is therefore up by 9.8percent from 2004. Domestic production depends crucially on prices, pharmaceutical imports and export demand.