Identifying and prioritizing industry-level competitiveness factors: evidence from pharmaceutical market

Background

Pharmaceutical industry is knowledge-intensive and highly globalized, in both developed and developing countries. On the other hand, if companies want to survive, they should be able to compete well in both domestic and international markets. The main purpose of this paper is therefore to develop and prioritize key factors affecting companies’ competitiveness in pharmaceutical industry. Based on an extensive literature review, a valid and reliable questionnaire was designed, which was later filled up by participants from the industry. To prioritize the key factors, we used the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS).

Results

The results revealed that human capital and macro-level policies were two key factors placed at the highest rank in respect of their effects on the competitiveness considering the industry-level in pharmaceutical area.

Conclusion

This study provides fundamental evidence for policymakers and managers in pharma context to enable them formulating better polices to be proactively competitive and responsive to the markets’ needs.     

例多种心血管疾病合并类风湿关节炎患者的药学监护

1 例77 岁女性患者,因反复胸闷、心悸15 年,加重1 个月入院.入院诊断为冠状动脉粥样硬化性心脏病,急性冠脉综合征,阵发性心房颤动;高血压3 级（很高危）,高血压性心脏病;类风湿关节炎;胃窦溃疡.入院给予抗炎、抗血小板、调节血脂、止痛、房颤转复、降血压、保护胃黏膜等治疗.患者长期应用糖皮质激素会导致血糖代谢紊乱、胃黏膜损伤、骨质疏松等症状,对甲泼尼龙片、盐酸胺碘酮、他汀类药物不良反应进行监测,考虑到埃索美拉唑可能与氯吡格雷存在代谢酶竞争,从而导致氯吡格雷抗栓效果不充分,临床药师建议将埃索美拉唑调整为泮托拉唑.同时,对患者进行用药教育,保障患者用药安全、有效.     

Functional differentiation of cytotoxic cancer drugs and targeted cancer therapeutics

There is no nationally or internationally binding definition of the term “cytotoxic drug” although this term is used in a variety of regulations for pharmaceutical development and manufacturing of drugs as well as in regulations for protecting medical personnel from occupational exposure in pharmacy, hospital, and other healthcare settings. The term “cytotoxic drug” is frequently used as a synonym for any and all oncology or antineoplastic drugs. Pharmaceutical companies generate and receive requests for assessments of the potential hazards of drugs regularly – including cytotoxicity. This publication is intended to provide functional definitions that help to differentiate between generically-cytotoxic cancer drugs of significant risk to normal human tissues, and targeted cancer therapeutics that pose much lesser risks. Together with specific assessments, it provides comprehensible guidance on how to assess the relevant properties of cancer drugs, and how targeted therapeutics discriminate between cancer and normal cells. The position of several regulatory agencies in the long-term is clearly to regulate all drugs regardless of classification, according to scientific risk based data. Despite ongoing discussions on how to replace the term “cytotoxic drugs” in current regulations, it is expected that its use will continue for the near future.     

Cancer risk of immunosuppressants in manufacturing

During the chemical and pharmaceutical production of active pharmaceutical substances which are intended for immunosuppressive therapy, the employees may be exposed to these substances via inhalation. Immunosuppressants are linked to development of certain types of cancers e.g., lymphoma or skin cancer in transplant patients. The development of these cancers in patients is linked to the level of immunosuppression needed for transplantation in order to avoid organ rejection. Below these levels, with the immune system functioning uninhibited, cancer is unlikely to develop.