Expressed in euros, the market declined by 1.6% to EUR627.6 million.
“Recent results confirm the turmoil on the pharmaceutical market. The forecast remains modest, thus, the annual growth rate for 2013 is kept at 0.7%, whereas for 2014, the initial growth forecast of 2.7% in lei could be adjusted additionally at the end of the current year,” Cegedim Romania general manager Petru Craciun said in a statement Monday.
By distribution channels, drug sales in hospitals fell by 8.2% on the year to RON370 million (EUR82.9 million) in the third quarter, while drug sales in pharmacies fell 2.5% to RON2.4 billion (EUR544.7 million).
Sales of prescription drugs fell 3.6% to RON2.02 billion (EUR455.5 million) in the mentioned period, while over-the-counter drug sales rose 3% to RON400 million (EUR89.2 million).
In the first nine months of 2013, the overall value of the local pharmaceutical market rose 1.2% on the year to RON8.69 billion (EUR1.97 billion), due to better results in the first half of the year. Expressed in euros, the market rose 1.8%.
In the mentioned period, prescription drugs saw a slight increase, of 0.5%, while over-the-counter drugs saw an increase of 7.2%. Drug sales in hospitals saw a 0.8% decline.
In the past 12 months (October 2012 and September 2013), the overall value of the pharmaceutical market reached RON11.82 billion (EUR2.66 billion), up 1.9% from the year-earlier period.
According to Cegedim, French group Sanofi (including Zentiva) remains the market leader in Romania, with sales of RON873.2 million and a 7.4% market share, followed by Hoffmann La Roche, with sales of RON862.6 million and a 7.3% market share, and Novartis with sales of RON718.4 million and a 6.1% market share.
The next seven spots are taken by Servier (RON677 million sales and 5.7% market share), Pfizer (RON617.9 million and 5.2% market share), GlaxoSmithKline (RON563.3 million and 4.8% market share), Merck & Co (RON486.3 million and 4.1% market share), AstraZeneca (RON460.5 million and 3.9% market share), Ranbaxy (RON445.7 million sales and 3.8% market share) and Krka (RON308.2 million and 2.6% market share).
The ranking from 11 to 20 includes Antibiotice, Johnson&Johnson, Teva, Abbvie, Menarini, Bristol Myers Squibb, Alvogen, Bayer, Abbott and Eli Lilly, with market shares between 1.6% and 2.5%. (EUR1=RON4.4356)