If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. For the research scientists who were the stars during drugmakers’ heyday in the 1990s, the rush of tie-ups with generic drugmakers must be bemusing. There were three in the past couple of weeks alone – Novartis’s $1.3bn purchase of Ebewe Pharma, an Austrian maker of generic cancer cures; Pfizer’s licensing deal with two Indian generics makers; and GlaxoSmithKline’s stake in South Africa’s Aspen. Such deals have taken on an added sense of urgency as drug groups grapple with diminishing returns to traditional research .

Indeed, they may be essential for the industry to arrive at a sustainable new business model. Cost-cutting and diversification away from research-intensive medicines are only part of the story. Another factor may be generics’ potential to unlock emerging markets. UBS estimates that seven countries – the Brics, Korea, Mexico and Turkey – could account for 70 per cent of new pharma sales growth by 2020. Rising incomes and ageing populations in poor countries mean more people suffering from rich country diseases such as cancer.