Well presumably, if current regulations did not turn out to be a lethal roadblock and a pharma company was lucky enough to become successful - and new regulations were not created as a response to new market entrants (via lobbying&#x2F;agency collusion) nor were illegal marketing practices utilized [1] - then they will likely just get acquired by the big corps.<p>There are plenty of good reasons there are only ever ~6 pharma companies and most have been around for 150yrs. There are few markets where oligopolies have maintained power for as long and as consistently as pharma. A few reasons why:<p>- Plenty of capital to support M&amp;A<p>- Legendary regulatory hurdles for new entrants<p>- An obedient judicial system where the annual major legal cases for illegal marketing by big pharma cos result in a slap on the wrist<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;List_of_largest_pharmaceutical_settlements" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;List_of_largest_pharmaceutical...</a>