Ioan Nani, general manager of drug maker Antibiotice Iasi, owned by the Health Ministry, expects a slowdown over the coming period, which for the full year will mean a rise of 4.5% at the most.
“Over the next two or three years the market will not grow by more than 5%. On the drugstore segment the trend will be a slight rise, of up to 6%, while the hospital segment will decline,” Nani believes.
He also says the second quarter of this year was better than the first, with the market being influenced by the announcements of the Health Ministry and of the National Health Insurance House (CNAS), that lists of subsidized drugs will be updated, which created a reticence among drugstores to buy products before the update.
“If the government meets its commitment to the IMF to decrease its arrears, budgetary pressures will probably be significant, resulting in a contraction of the pharmaceutical market in the second half,” says Bogdan Tenu, senior manager in the transactions assistance department of Ernst & Young Romania.
He explains that one major factor in the evolution of the market in the last six months is the decline in consumers’ purchasing power. “This in turn led to a rise in sales of branded generics, which are cheaper than innovators,” Tenu says.
(English version by Daniela Stoican)