ИСТИНА

Studying the geography of the pharmaceutical industry is currently becoming an economic and political issue because spatial patterns of its manufacturing forces contribute greatly to the countries’ internal medicinal security. National drug production provides independence from foreign suppliers and ensures the stability of health care. Moreover, as the pharmaceutical industry is one of the top high-tech sectors of manufacturing it attracts a lot of scientific attention. To point out the main stages of pharma geographical spread and estimate the contemporary state of the industry, some of the articles written by such experts as Franco Malerba, Luigi Orsenigo and Richard Epstein have been reviewed. In Malerba and Orsenigo’s work the evolutionary approach they use to analyse both technological and geographical changes in pharmacy enables them to come to conclude. Throughout its history the world leadership in the pharmaceutical industry has been shifting: from Europe to the USA in 1920-s and from the USA to Asia now. Richard Epstein considers that as Asia accounts for a half of the world’s population and offers both a large and relatively low-cost workforce and a potentially huge retail market, this region could become central to the future of the global economy. Like other industries, the pharmaceutical industry faces a new array of Asia-specific opportunities and challenges. All in all, these two articles help to learn more about the geographical aspects of the pharmaceutical industry and thus give a better understanding of modern development trends.