This blog is part of a series on the geographic concentration of pharmaceutical manufacturing. This blog focuses on the manufacturing of finished dose forms. For a discussion on API manufacturing, see here.
Natural disasters, trade wars and pandemics are just some of the disruptions that the U.S. pharmaceutical supply chain has faced in recent years. Identifying where drug products are made is a first step in characterizing the risk associated with these events.
Using USP’s Medicine Supply Map, we analyzed the geographic concentration of U.S. prescription pharmaceutical finished dose manufacturing.
Key takeaways:
- Major hubs of production are India and the U.S. (see Figure 1)
- For injectables, the U.S. is the largest manufacturer with 45% of production volume (Figure 1)
- For solid oral dosage forms, India has 60% of production volume (Figure 1)
- Market share has remained relatively stable over the last two years (Figure 2)
Figure 1: Manufacturing footprint of Rx pharmaceutical finished dose forms (% of total volume, 2024)
Figure 2: Manufacturing footprint of Rx pharmaceutical finished dose forms over time
For this analysis, volume is measured using IQVIA National Sales Perspectives™ data. Units are different across dosage forms. Injectable volume was measured in “eaches” or counts of syringes and vials. Solid oral dose form volume was measured in extended units or the smallest saleable units, such as tablet or milliliter. Extended units were also used to measure total volume across dosage forms.
Insights from USP’s Medicine Supply Map demonstrate that geographic concentration of pharmaceutical manufacturing anywhere in the world – including within the United States – increases the risk for drug shortages. Promoting geographic diversity of the manufacturing base of U.S. drug products can help to reduce supply chain vulnerabilities.
For more analysis on the medicines supply chain using USP’s Medicine Supply Map, see here.
Many thanks to Stephen Colvill at the Duke-Margolis Institute for Health Policy for his expert input on this analysis.
