Trade barriers are coming down. Banking is largely an electronic process, with vast amounts of money being exchanged instantly, electronically. Computers and computer chips are getting smaller, more complex, yet more economical. It would travel at the speed of sound, and go about 600 miles on a thimble of gas. Today, drug development and marketing are truly global operations.
Pharmaceutical companies compete on a world-wide basis.
Other advances are having an enormous impact in the pharmaceutical arena as well. Nanotechnology is becoming commonplace in the drug development process. Information is being generated at an astonishing rate. The types of data that were largely inaccessible in the past are now stored electronically, their information mined to learn from past successes and failures, to direct future efforts and zero in on the most likely drug candidates for development. The success of the pharmaceutical industry depends on its ability to compete effectively and respond quickly in the global marketplace.