Researchers see pharma contraction

Researcher Business Monitor International expects the U.S. pharmaceutical market to contract at a compound annual growth rate of -0.35 percent during 2008 to 2013. The contraction is expected to yield a market valuation of $302 billion.

The 2011 "patent cliff" is cited as a reason for the dip, as well as the coming flood of generics. "The contraction is small as we believe that the healthcare reform will allow wider access to medical services due to mandatory insurance cover," according to the report.

Researchers say they expect that generic drugs will see a positive growth rate during the period due to sales increase as the government tackles both healthcare reform and its drug procurement policy, and begins to look more favorably on the knockoffs.

- here are details of the $495 report