The biopharmaceuticals continues to increase in Germany, with large number of drugs currently in Phase III clinical trials.  Germany’s mature healthcare market, which is the largest of all EU member states, will be driven by the increasing elderly population and associated disease burden, while government initiatives to reduce healthcare expenditure will limit growth.

As part of the Eurozone’s austerity measures, the German government is focused on reducing healthcare expenditure by regulating reimbursement and pricing policies through cost-benefit analysis, reference pricing, and analysis of the therapeutic characteristics of medicines, in an attempt to maintain the country’s economic stability.  The pharmaceutical industry represents the largest sub-sector of the healthcare industry in Germany and has been a significant global player from the beginning.  Due to the constant increase of quality in development and production, German products are popular worldwide.  German companies in the healthcare industry have more than a century of successful global experience.  They have developed world famous drugs like Aspirin ®, just to name one salient product.  In 2010, a German company launched the marketing of Betaferon ® for the treatment of relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) in China.  The drug is currently licensed in more than 100 countries worldwide.

According to a report from Global Data, The German pharmaceuticals market is set to rise from $67.9 billion (€52.9 billion) in 2016 to around $86.3 billion (€67.2 billion) in 2021, representing a compound annual growth rate of 4.9%, according to research and consulting firm GlobalData.

Despite the pressures of the Eurozone crisis, however, Germany’s stable fiscal environment has allowed for sustained economic growth, which offers an optimal base for corporate projects.  Low corporate taxes and interest rates, a well-educated workforce, and very little structural debt create a clear perspective to guide capital spending.  Outside investors face a relatively transparent regulatory system, where the foreign investment landscape is one of the least restrictive in the world.

The German government provides infrastructure support for domestic as well as foreign multinationals to open new manufacturing centers or to expand existing R&D sites.  Pharmaceutical companies in Germany benefit from their close proximity to leading device and equipment manufacturers, resulting in streamlined production and shorter down-times.