Post by unlawflcombatnt on Nov 17, 2009 17:42:45 GMT -6
Profit Margins for the major pharmaceutical companies are currently in double digits. Several are over +20%. Amgen's is over 30%. These profit margins contrast sharply with most other areas of consumer goods and services, where margins are in the 0-5% range (assuming they're making any profit at all).
Walmart has a net profit margin of only +3.47%. Some other net profits margins:
Home Depot: +3.5%
Lowes: +5.87%
Target: +5.2%
The Gap +6.65%
CVS: +3.72%
JC Penny: +1.46%
Staples: +2.84%
Starbucks: +4.00%
Unilever: +9.8%
Sears: 0.00%
Yahoo: -1.41%
Office Max: -5.57%
Office Depot: -14.95%
Time Warner: -43%[/ul]
In stark contrast are Big Pharma's profit margins.
In order by size of net revenue:
Pfizer: +17.7%
Novartis: +18%
Astra Zeneca: +22.6%
Abbott: +18.7%
GlaxoSmithKline: +18.5%
BristolMyersSquibb: +23.5%
Lilly, Eli: -1.0%
Amgen: +31.8%[/ul]
(Ortho-McNeil-Janssen and Schering Plow apparently are not publicly traded.)
Despite the recession, Big Pharma continues to rake in the $$$. There are several reasons:
#1 is the massive subsidization of their sales by government purchases at federal, state, and local levels.
#2 is the massive consolidation within the industry. For example, Pfizer alone swallowed up Parke-Davis, Pharmacia, Upjohn, Wyeth, & Searle. Novartis swallowed up CIBA and Sandoz. And there have been many others.
#3 is the fraudulent extension of patent exclusivity by Big Pharma by numerous means. Pharm companies ALWAYS apply for patent extensions, and are almost ALWAYS granted 1, and usually more.
Coupled with the latter are intra-company agreements to not sell generics--even after patents have expired. In other cases, another company will buy the drug once the patent has expired, and re-patent it, thus again preventing the generic from entering the market.
After the financial industry, Big Pharma is the sleaziest of them all.
Walmart has a net profit margin of only +3.47%. Some other net profits margins:
Home Depot: +3.5%
Lowes: +5.87%
Target: +5.2%
The Gap +6.65%
CVS: +3.72%
JC Penny: +1.46%
Staples: +2.84%
Starbucks: +4.00%
Unilever: +9.8%
Sears: 0.00%
Yahoo: -1.41%
Office Max: -5.57%
Office Depot: -14.95%
Time Warner: -43%[/ul]
In stark contrast are Big Pharma's profit margins.
In order by size of net revenue:
Pfizer: +17.7%
Novartis: +18%
Astra Zeneca: +22.6%
Abbott: +18.7%
GlaxoSmithKline: +18.5%
BristolMyersSquibb: +23.5%
Lilly, Eli: -1.0%
Amgen: +31.8%[/ul]
(Ortho-McNeil-Janssen and Schering Plow apparently are not publicly traded.)
Despite the recession, Big Pharma continues to rake in the $$$. There are several reasons:
#1 is the massive subsidization of their sales by government purchases at federal, state, and local levels.
#2 is the massive consolidation within the industry. For example, Pfizer alone swallowed up Parke-Davis, Pharmacia, Upjohn, Wyeth, & Searle. Novartis swallowed up CIBA and Sandoz. And there have been many others.
#3 is the fraudulent extension of patent exclusivity by Big Pharma by numerous means. Pharm companies ALWAYS apply for patent extensions, and are almost ALWAYS granted 1, and usually more.
Coupled with the latter are intra-company agreements to not sell generics--even after patents have expired. In other cases, another company will buy the drug once the patent has expired, and re-patent it, thus again preventing the generic from entering the market.
After the financial industry, Big Pharma is the sleaziest of them all.