Big pharma will soon lose patents on blockbuster drugs, boosting the market for cheap generic drug producers. Too bad there isn’t an exchange traded fund that tracks global generic drug makers.
The cheap generic drug market could account for $29 billion in total revenue as about 120 drugs lose patent protection in 2013, and EvaulatePharma projects this number will grow ten-fold between now and 2018, reports Seth Robey for The Motley Fool.
Large drug companies have witnessed as much as 70% in lost revenue to increased competition from generic drug companies after patents on their best selling drugs expired.
Moreover, generic drug sales overseas, notably in the emerging markets, could also prove lucrative. For instance, India’s Supreme Court recently set a precedent for generics to be sold in third party emerging markets after denying Novartis (NYSE: NVS) patent protection on its cancer drug Gleevec.