Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/31737e/pharmaceutical_ind) has announced the addition of the "Pharmaceutical Industry in South Africa" report to their offering.
The birth origins of the Pharmaceutical Industry can be traced back to more humble antecedents than just chemistry labs. The earliest incidents of recognition of the antiseptic properties of the dyestuffs is around the late 19th century. The invention of penicillin can yet be recognized as a major milestone for the emergent industry which firmly consolidated its R&D efforts in the 1950's. Further in the 1960's the patent regulation support gave a further impetus to the industry in new discoveries and relaxed controls on clinical development with the booming spend on healthcare as economies boomed globally.
The global presence of the pharmaceutical industry is evident with the roll out of continent specific R&D programs and drugs which help companies maximize penetration of markets and garner increased revenues with intercontinental treatment demand of patients being serviced from often one or two mega research centers in the continent.
The pharmaceutical industry is under mounting scrutiny because of rapidly increasing expenditures for drugs worldwide. Drug expenditures are now the fastest-growing component of health care costs, increasing at the rate of about 15 percent per year. They account for about eight percent of health care spending, and at their current rate of increase, they will soon surpass spending for physicians' services and, for many health care organizations, the costs of hospitalization.