The pharmaceutical industry is sizable, with the US commanding the largest slice of the market. But competition within the sector is cutthroat and regulatory approval is an ongoing hurdle.<\/p>
Pharmaceutical stocks are stocks from companies that research and produce pharmaceutical drugs and medical equipment.<\/p>
The industry is dominated by big names like Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson and GlaxoSmithKline \u2014 famous for blockbuster drugs netting over USD$1 billion in annual sales, like Advair, Lipitor and Zoloft.<\/p>
But there are numerous up-and-comers in the industry offering a spectrum of entry points for investors, like livestock medicine manufacturer Zoetis or Neoleukin Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company that targets immunological disorders.<\/p>
The global pharmaceutical industry is massive \u2014 and the US holds the largest slice of the market. In 2018, worldwide pharmaceutical revenue sat at USD$1.2 trillion, with the US commanding a 40.4% share of the market with pharmaceutical sales of USD$484.5 billion.<\/p>
Between 2011 and 2019, Canada\u2019s pharmaceutical sales went up 35.3% to CAD$29.9 billion. Most of this is in retail drug sales, but hospitals also account for a chunk of the revenue.<\/p>
According to Statista<\/a>, the US also happens to have some of the highest prescription drug prices in the world \u2014 bad news for the general public but profitable for well-established drug companies like Pfizer and its shareholders. Given that drug prices in Canada and many other countries are much lower than drug prices in the US, millions of American residents import drugs<\/a> from outside the country each year to save money.<\/p> Pharma stocks also have the potential to outperform the broader market. For example, the SPDR S&P Pharmaceuticals ETF has outperformed the S&P 500 since its 2006 inception.<\/p> And if the potential for profit isn\u2019t incentive enough, investors also have the opportunity to back potentially groundbreaking, life-saving medicine \u2014 medicine that they or a loved one may one day rely on.<\/p>\n \n\n