With the resurgence of COVID-19 cases, the pharmaceutical sector is expected to attract significant investor attention in the coming months as the demand for vaccines and treatment continues to soar. Also, the rising demand for medicines and therapies for treating several critical diseases (other than COVID-19) is likely to propel the industry's growth further. Given the pharmaceutical industry’s tremendous growth potential, we believe established players in this space, Pfizer (PFE) and Eli Lilly (LLY), could be ideal buy-and-hold stocks for the next decade. Let's discuss. As the COVID-19 Delta variant continues its rapid spread, COVID-19 cases are resurfacing in the United States, which has dragged the pharma sector back to center stage. As several countries continue to prioritize the vaccination of their populations to fight the coming new strains of the COVID-19 virus, pharmaceutical companies are now again focused on ramping up their vaccine production to meet the growing demand.
But the increasing prevalence of chronic diseases throughout the world is also expected to drive the demand for pharma products. Furthermore, the digital revolution in providing life-transforming treatments to patients and increasing investments in R&D to develop efficient drugs to fight various critical health conditions are expected to be the major growth drivers of pharmaceutical companies. Consequently, the global pharmaceuticals market is expected to hit $1,700.97 billion in 2025, registering an 8% CAGR
Given this backdrop, shares of leading pharmaceutical companies with resilient business models—Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) and Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY)—hold solid upside potential. So, we believe these two stocks could be solid buy-and-hold bets for the next 10 years.