2010-01-30T07:59:00.001-08:00

Tuesday April 20 - 5:40 AM

As our regular readers know, we look for investment opportunities that capitalize on longer term investment themes we are following. One such theme is the shift in global wealth and emergence out of poverty for more than a billion people in the developing world. Bloomberg reports that "Drug sales may grow at least 5 percent worldwide in each year through 2014 as increasing demand in developing countries offsets price drops tied to generic competition, according to IMS Health Inc.

The annual market may reach $1.1 trillion for 2014, the Norwalk, Connecticut-based research company said in a report released today. Global sales expanded 7 percent to $837 billion last year, IMS said.

The top emerging markets, led by China and India, are expected to grow by as much as 17 percent a year, helping offset the $136 billion a year worth of medicines that will lose patent protection. Generic copies will hit the market next year for Pfizer Inc.’s cholesterol pill Lipitor, the world’s top-selling drug, which had sales of $11.4 billion in 2009. Generic versions of Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.’s blood thinner Plavix, the No. 2 seller, will become available in the U.S. in 2012. "

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