The Continuing Evolution of the Pharmaceutical Industry: Career Challenges and Opportunities

A major white paper, “The Continuing Evolution of the Pharmaceutical Industry: Career Challenges and Opportunities,” was published by RegentAtlantic Capital, LLC, a Chatham, New Jersey-based wealth management firm. The study examines the forces confronting pharmaceutical companies and how they will affect jobs in the upper-middle and senior-level executive positions within the industry. The report is the first publicly-available study that combines much of the research done on the future of the pharmaceutical business with how individuals in the industry will have to adapt their careers to its evolution. Over the course of 11 months, a 14-person research team interviewed more than 100 industry experts, including current and former CEOs and other executives of pharmaceutical and biotechnology firms, highly-regarded academics, recruiting and outplacement firms, attorneys, and consultants. The report concludes that in the future, the industry will shift to a more decentralized business model. There will be far fewer large companies and thousands of small ones, as well as many thousands of independent contractors. The study also argues that the business of pharmaceutical companies will, in the future, focus more on late-stage development and the marketing and distribution of drugs than in the past. The study highlights high-growth areas such as biosimilar versions of biologics and oncology and central nervous system disorders. It argues that there will be many opportunities for individuals who work on the commercialization of dormant compounds, the development of stratified medicine and diagnostics, and improving the efficiency of R&D across the industry.