“We expect growth of 10% to 11% on 2011. It can be even better, because of eagerly awaited positive steps such as: an updated list of subsidized drugs, shorter payment terms, implementation of a new healthcare law and, first of all, proper allocation and management of healthcare funds,” said Corina Ciolan, general manager of IMS Health Romania.
In the final days of 2011, the Romanian government announced a significant reform of the healthcare system, by proposing a draft of a new healthcare bill.
Corina Ciolan also says the pharmaceutical market will be affected by the final version of the clawback tax this year. The tax is levied on sales of drug makers and has been through countless changes.
The latest version has been in force since October 2011 and is extremely harsh to producers, which have to pay for any increase in consumption beyond the budget set by the government. Companies challenged it arguing the government allocated less than needed for pharmaceutical products, which would force them to finance a deficit, so that the tax is to be changed again soon.
Pharmaceutical sales reached EUR2.35 billion in the first eleven months of 2011, up 6.2% on the same time of 2010, according to IMS Health data. The company sees full-year growth at no more than 7% and ZF has calculated that the industry’s sales could reach EUR2.56 billion.
The sales were lower than anticipated by IMS, which had previously forecast a growth of 9%. Corina Ciolan says there were a number of factors at play here, among which the expiration of patents for the so-called blockbuster drugs and the delayed payments in the system.
The first eleven months of 2011 saw a change of leader in the ranking of drug sales, as Roche left Sanofi behind, according to IMS Health data. The two companies are less than EUR500,000 apart, though. Roche used to be the leader of drug producers ranking until 2009 when the integration of Zentiva put Sanofi on the top spot. Other top ten companies include GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, Pfizer and MSD. The top ten drug producers posted EUR1.36 billion sales, almost 60% of the total market.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)