经济学人下载:无疆界之战 Battling borderless bugs

TO GET an idea of where the world’s pharmaceutical industry is heading, a leafy complex tucked off a hectic road in Mumbai provides a clue. In one part of the building, Abbott, an American firm, is developing generic drugs—a privilege it won when it bought the copycat business of Piramal, an Indian firm, for $3.7 billion in 2010. In the other part of the building Piramal is developing new drugs. The American firm wants to sell cheap generics in India; the Indian firm plans to sell original drugs in America. One might think that they were having an identity crisis, if each were not so excited by the switch.

要想知道世界制药行业发展趋势如何，只要看看位于孟买一条繁忙的街道旁的一座叶状的综合大楼便可略知一二。这座大楼的一侧驻扎着美国雅培公司，目前正忙于仿制药品的开发。该公司于2010年以37亿美元收购了印度制药公司皮拉马尔（Piramal）旗下的品牌仿制药业务，因而拥有了生产仿制药的特权。大楼的另一侧是致力于开发新药的皮拉马尔公司。美国公司欲在印度销售廉价的仿制药，而印度公司则计划将新药出售给美国市场。如果不是各自都对这种转换如此兴奋，人们或许认为这两家公司可能正面临着身份危机。

The world’s drug industry is in flux. In the past, Western drugmakers thrived on innovation while firms in emerging markets made cheap copies of their products. Now they are invading each other’s turf. Blockbuster drugs are losing their patents and, despite some bright spots, research has become more costly and less fruitful. Big Western firms are now looking to emerging markets for growth, hoping to sell not just their patented drugs but generic ones, too. Firms in emerging markets are expanding their footprint, ramping up sales in the West and investing in research. It is an energetic exchange, but a risky one. 

全球制药行业处于不断变化之中。过去，西方制药企业靠创新而繁荣，而新兴市场的制药公司则靠廉价的仿制药赚钱。而今，他们正在互相侵入彼此的地盘。畅销药面临失去专利保护之忧，尽管研发会带来一定的竞争力，但研发的成本越来越高，成果却越来越少。西方大型制药公司目前正转向新兴市场寻求增长，他们希望不仅仅出售专利药品，还包括仿制药。新兴市场的制药公司也在扩大他们的足迹，不断提高在西方市场的销售额并加大研发的投入。这是一种极具活力的转换，同时也很冒险。

It is no surprise that Western drugmakers are looking further afield. America’s spending on prescription drugs increased by just 2.3% in 2010. As incomes rise elsewhere, the demand for health care grows. IMS Health, a research group, expects emerging markets’ share of drug spending to jump from 12% in 2005 to 28% in 2015.

西方药厂不断向外扩张地盘，这一点毫不奇怪。2010年，美国的处方药支出仅上升了2.3%。而随着世界其它地区的收入提高，人们对医疗保健的需求也随之上升。据全球研究机构IMS Health预测，新兴市场的药品支出所占比例将由2005年的12%跃升至2015年的28%。

Western companies are keen to tap this growth. Sanofi-Aventis, a French giant, has become the biggest producer of generic drugs in Latin America after its purchase in 2010 of Medley, a Brazilian firm. Not to be left out, America’s Pfizer, the world’s biggest drugmaker, bought 40% of Teuto, a Brazilian generics company. Some firms also hope that developing countries—many chock full of talented scientists—will help to fill their bare pipelines with new drugs. Merck, for example, recently announced that it would create a new research and development centre in Beijing, investing $1.5 billion over five years.

西方药企热衷于培育这一增长。法国医药巨头赛诺菲安万特公司在2010年收购巴西公司Medley之后一跃成为拉美地区最大的仿制药生产企业。同时，世界最大的药品制造商---美国的辉瑞公司也不甘示弱地买下了Teuto（巴西仿制药公司）40%的股份。一些公司还希望，发展中国家众多才华横溢的科学家可帮助他们在日已枯竭的研发产品线中注入新药。例如，默克最近宣布，它将在5年内投资15亿美元在北京建立一个研发中心。