ABSTRACT
This chapter explains how the distinctive characteristics of the pharmaceutical industry make it difficult for non-pharmaceutical companies to enter it a barrier which is to the advantage of companies already active in pharmaceuticals. The pharmaceutical industry is often considered to be a dynamic one. The top 1980 company, Hoechst, has ended up as part of Sanofi. The second-ranked company, Merck & Co, has retained its name. A growing test of resolve of established pharmaceutical companies as well as newcomers is that the amount which companies have needed to invest in R&D has not stayed constant. One exception to the common attitude of outsiders that the pharmaceutical industry has become too difficult to countenance entering is Japanese companies. The way in which other health care markets operate is often markedly different to pharmaceuticals. This is because medical device markets are so different in many ways to pharmaceutical markets.
