Package design an Rx for ailing drug industry?

That's according to Eric Park of Ziba, a design consultancy in "Pharmaceuticals, The Ailing Drug Industry." He was quoted in an article published in the January 25, 2007, issue of the Economist.

An example of such package design cited in the article is GlaxoSmithKline's Advair, an asthma therapy packaged in "an innovative, multi-use inhaler that is breath-activated and easier to use." Last October, GSK announced that it had "submitted a supplemental new drug application to the Food and Drug Administration to expand labeling for" its Advair Diskus fluticasone propionate and salmeterol inhalation powder in the U.S.

Expiring patents on blockbuster drugs challenges the pharmaceutical industry. The Economist's article pointed out Pfizer's recent announcement that it will cut some 10,000 jobs globally, including five research centers and several manufacturing sites. "When patents on blockbusters like Lipitor run out, generic competition ensures that prices collapse quickly. Unless drug firms continually bring enough new products to market to replace lost revenues, they will shrivel and die," said the story.

Meanwhile, the generic drug market continues to grow. The Economist notes, "Big Pharma has not given up the fight. Its armies of lawyers aggressively defend patents, even flimsy ones taken out on minor tweaks to existing treatments. American firms, including Pfizer and Merck, are trying to launch their own 'authorized generics' a few months before patents expire to try to blunt the impact of competition."

Read the complete Economist article here.