Shadowing Practice: Pharmaceutical Industry Overview | Pharma and Biotech: Distinctions | Understanding Pharmaceuticals - Learn English Speaking with Video
Choose a practice mode
Each mode opens a full-screen practice room.
48 sentences
If sentences are too short or too long, click Edit to adjust them.
1
So pharmaceutical industry.
2
The pharmaceutical industry is really quite a vast network of companies.
3
About 50% of the global pharmaceutical companies are located in the United States,
4
and about 40% of them are located in Western Europe.
5
The other 10% are scattered about the world,
6
and these are just a few of the major players of the pharmaceutical industry companies like Genentech, Amgen, Merck, Pfizer, Sanofi, Aventus,
7
and Novartis really make up a lot of the big players in that space.
8
Approximately 1.7 to 1.9 million people work in the pharmaceutical industry worldwide.
9
That's a lot of people
10
and it gives you a sense of the scope of the industry out there in the broader economy.
11
Let me see if this will advance here.
12
The pharmaceutical industry has gone through a lot of transitions and a lot of development over the past couple of centuries.
13
Back in the 19th century, the pharmaceutical industry started coming into its heyday.
14
Given the need for countries to treat wounded soldiers and struggle with pandemic diseases,
15
vaccines, antibiotics, and other kinds of treatments were created so
16
that people could have a better quality of life and overcome some of these illnesses.
17
Things like the flu and diphtheria,
18
tetanus, rabies, and other kinds of issues seem to predominate the early 19th and late 19th century.
19
Then going into the 20th century, we ended up with things like antibiotics, insulin, a global scale, flu vaccines, polio, and so forth.
20
And today in the 21st century, we're starting to get into the world of targeted therapies,
21
where now we're no longer dealing with just large-scale epidemic-type diseases,
22
but we're now dealing with more boutique diseases, where we have diseases that make up very much smaller portions of the population,
23
but have every bit as devastating an impact on those groups.
24
And so as we move into the 21st century, the pharmaceutical industry will take on a bigger, broader perspective.
25
We will be penetrating into more parts of the global economy.
26
Well, typically, when one thinks of the pharmaceutical industry, there are several kinds of divisions.
27
We have the traditional large-scale pharmaceutical companies.
28
that design develop commercialize and deploy pharmaceuticals then there are the newcomers to the business
29
which are biotechnology companies these are companies that deal with biological therapies
30
and biological treatments and then there are generic manufacturers once drugs become
31
available and are off patent then income other companies to try to offer the same medications at a reduced cost,
32
thus reducing the amount that consumers have to pay at the cash register.
33
And so there are some important distinctions between these various kinds of companies.
34
For example, traditional pharmaceutical companies spend a lot of time developing and discovering new drugs.
35
So too do biotechnology companies.
36
A lot of money, a lot of time, a lot of research goes into understanding what kind of drugs and opportunities there are out there for development of drugs,
37
and then the process for turning it into a commercialized product that can be sold on the open market.
38
Biotechnology companies and pharmaceutical companies then also create diagnostic tools
39
that can be used to help assess and understand the extent of the diseases
40
and the extent to which the treatments they're offering are actually making a difference.
41
Generic manufacturers, on the other hand, worry about making exact copies of what used to be once novel products in a space,
42
but they are limited in terms of their scope.
43
They do not come up with new drugs.
44
They're not in the business of developing new drugs.
45
They're in the business of manufacturing existing drugs, but doing it on a much cheaper scale.
46
Now, there's a reason for generics appearing on the scene, and they usually appear on the scene much later than the pharmaceutical companies,
47
because the pharmaceutical companies and biotechnology companies have legal rights that we'll talk about here in just a moment.
48
Thank you.
Download App
Everything you need to speak fluently
AI PronunciationScore every sentence
IPA PracticeMaster every sound
VocabularyBuild your word bank
Vocab GameLearn while playing
✨ Recommend Video
C11
710 sentences
The truth about peptides, NAD, & other longevity treatments | Rachele Pojednic, Ph.D.
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C197 sentences
The History of Travel and Tourism
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C15
170 sentences
What Happens When Capitalism Doesn't Need Workers Anymore?
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B21
104 sentences
PEBC OSCE Practice Station from PharmAchieve - Patient picking up new prescription
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C1149
12 sentences
How Antidepressants Work
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C14
102 sentences
Chemical Manufacturing 101 - Texas
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
C11
67 sentences
Viruses: Components & Shapes - Microbiology Acellular Pre-Nursing, Pre-Med | @LevelUpRN
Daily ConversationUniversity Students
C110
45 sentences
Agriculture for Improved Nutrition and Health (CRP4)
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B21
79 sentences
The Secret Behind Coca-Cola Marketing Strategy
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C11
284 sentences
Why do people smoke?
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C15
182 sentences
How to Become an AI Product Manager in 2026 | Ex-Google, Microsoft
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C11
557 sentences
50+ C1 Advanced English Vocabulary You Must Know || Level Up Your English!
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
Exploring the Pharmaceutical Industry: Context and Insights
The video offers a fascinating look at the pharmaceutical industry, a global network that employs 1.7 to 1.9 million people worldwide. It breaks down key players—like Genentech, Pfizer, and Novartis—and traces its evolution from 19th-century vaccines to 21st-century targeted therapies. This rich content isn’t just informative; it’s perfect for english speaking practice, as it blends technical terms with conversational explanations, ideal for building vocabulary and fluency.
Top 5 Phrases for Daily Communication
- "Vast network": Describes a large, interconnected system (e.g., "The tech industry is a vast network of startups and corporations").
- "Predominate the landscape": To be the most common or influential (e.g., "Renewable energy is starting to predominate the energy landscape").
- "Off patent": When a drug’s exclusive legal rights expire (e.g., "Once a drug goes off patent, generics become available").
- "Commercialized product": A product ready for sale (e.g., "The lab’s discovery became a commercialized product within five years").
- "Boutique diseases": Rare conditions affecting small groups (e.g., "Research now focuses on boutique diseases as well as common ones").
Step-by-Step Shadowing Guide for This Video
Shadowing—repeating speech aloud in real time—is a powerful tool for improve english pronunciation and fluency. Here’s how to tackle this video:
- Listen first, then mimic: Watch the video once to grasp the main ideas. Then, play short clips (5–10 seconds) and repeat immediately, focusing on rhythm and stress. Notice how the speaker emphasizes words like "targeted therapies" or "generic manufacturers."
- Focus on connected speech: The dialogue uses phrases like "a lot of time" and "so forth"—common in daily English. Practice linking these words smoothly, as native speakers do, to sound more natural. This is great for IELTS speaking practice, where fluency matters.
- Shadow with purpose: Pause and repeat tricky terms like "biotechnology" or "diagnostic tools" until you can say them clearly. Pay attention to intonation when the speaker explains differences (e.g., rising tone for questions like "Let me see if this will advance here?").
- Record and compare: Record yourself shadowing, then listen to the original. Note gaps in pronunciation or pace. This helps refine your skills and builds confidence for real conversations.
Whether you’re practicing shadowspeak or preparing for exams, this video’s mix of technical and conversational language makes it a versatile tool. Dive in, and you’ll not only learn about pharma but also boost your English skills!
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.