Market updateLife Sciences - H1 2014

Life Sciences

Last year was a year of consolidation for the Life Sciences market which saw many companies focus on operational viability, location and cost. 2012 saw a number of companies start major restructuring programmes and we have seen this trend continue through the last 2013 with no real suggestion of a let up for 2014.

With the well documented patent cliff being the reoccurring theme over the past couple of years the restructuring many clients have gone through has allowed them to realign their focus on where they can not only make up the revenue loss of their patent expiring blockbusters but also maintain revenue growth.

Introduction

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Life Sciences

One of the upshots of this is the investment in biosimilars. With approximately $100b of originator biologics expected to lose patent exclusivity by 2020, a number of large companies are looking to capitalize on this opportunity. This has seen further large investment by the companies who already have established biosimilars programmes, Pfizer, Novartis, Boehringer Ingeheim and Merk, along with large generics companies such as Teva and Dr. Reddys.

All the suggestion points to the biosimilars market evolving into the one of the fastest growing sectors within the pharmaceutical industry with Sandoz estimating a compound growth of 50% for the years 2015-2020. The level of investment and the buzz around Biosimilars has seen a marked uplift in the demand for top level candidates with biologics/biosimilars experience through 2013 and with aggressive hiring plans for 2014 in this area we anticipate this to be one of the hot areas of the next few years.

Along with the need to find ways to replace and maintain revenue through innovative R&D there has been a real need to increase and focus on the quality of production and regulatory processes. As in 2012 regulatory requirements continue to pose difficulty gaining EU and FDA approval and with a number of companies in the midst of FDA led site re-inspections and newly issued FDA warning letters, Regulatory Affairs and Quality Assurance are two areas that will again experience significant hiring growth through 2014.

Although 2013 has been seen as a year of consolidation in comparison to previous years, the life sciences market continues to grow and 2014 will see the demand for top level talent be as prominent as it has ever been for the industry. With that being said it’s no surprise that talent attraction and retention is high on most company’s agendas.

As candidate experience becomes more important and the candidate population become more intuitive when looking for new opportunities, the need for companies to be one step ahead of their direct competitors has seen companies increase their focus on the

global biologic sales products due to come off patent by 2016, by 2020 US$100 billion of biologic originators are to lose exclusivity

$63billion

SAFC estimates that between 860-870 biosimilars are in development

860-870

By 2020 it is projected that China will have become the second largest pharmaceutical market in the world.

China no2

Life Sciences

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recruitment process. Interestingly interview processes has been one of the areas we have seen significant change. The most successful hirers have been able to engage and excite candidates and as well as being able to offer an intellectual stake in their operations. This coupled with managing the interview schedules to tight timeframes has lead to the candidate feeling more valued from initial interview right through to engagement and the companies have found a higher success rate in securing the right person first time out.

Along with process improvements companies are looking for more ways to engage the very best people in the market. The need for the most diversely skilled, innovative candidates has lead to an increase in looking at hybrid consultancy/agency models and flexible permanent and freelance resource solutions. Flexibility seems to be the framework to which companies are approaching their hiring in 2014. This has never been more prevalent then in the push into emerging markets. This has seen the industry demonstrate a continuing need for candidates with not only the necessary expert technical knowledge but also global experience. Realisation that the best people may not be within a couple of hundred miles radius has seen greater flexibility to the global candidate demographic. We have seen this first hand with over 70% of our permanent placements coming through international relocations, especially within Medical affairs and the Senior Clinical Project Management space.

With increased spend in R&D, companies re-organising to facilitate growth and the improvement in flexibility 2014 is shaping up to be a year of opportunity for both candidates and clients.

All the suggestions points to the biosimilars market evolving into one of the fastest growing sectors within the pharmaceutical industry

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The most successful hirers have been able to engage and excite candidates and as well as being able to offer an intellectual stake in their operations

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Life Sciences

www.hydrogengroup.com

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Hydrogen is a global specialist recruitment business, placing exceptional, hard to find candidates in over 70 countries. Our joined up practices combine international reach with local expertise and specialist knowledge.

Whilst many recruiters are location focused, Hydrogen believes the best way to deliver service to its clients and candidates is to base our offering around these practices, which cover both Technical & Scientific (Power, Mining, Oil & Gas and Life Sciences), and Professional Support Services (Business Transformation, Finance, Legal, Trading & Advisory and Technology). By being practice led and using the latest technology we provide our clients with global visibility of the best candidates.

We invest in building strong relationships with candidates over the long-term, not just when they are actively looking to move.

860-870

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