“I estimate a 1.5% to 2% increase in value and stagnation in terms of units. Actually, it is a decline of nearly 8-10%, because market researches show that a part of parallel exports, through pharmacies, cannot be separated in calculations and is viewed as sales on the local market, although the respective medicines go to export, in fact,” said Damian, who is also general manager of generic drug producer Terapia Ranbaxy.
According to Damian, some of the factors affecting the local pharmaceutical market are the long payment terms and the risk of not cashing in invoices, the lack of financing when it comes to medicines, the clawback tax, the appearance of generic replicas to a series of blockbusters (medicines whose sales exceed $1 billion annually – e.n.), the precarious access to medical services and the uncontrolled increase in prices of over-the-counter drugs.
According to market research company Cegedim, the total value of the local pharmaceutical market reached RON11.82 billion (EUR2.66 billion) between October 2012 and September 2013, up 1.9% from the year-earlier period (October 2011 –September 2012).
The profile market has seen a 4.3% increase in Romanian lei, on the year in the first quarter of 2013 (+3.6% expressed in euro), a 2.7% increase (+3.4% in euro) in the second quarter and a 3.3% decline (-1.6% in euro) in the third quarter.
“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 the latest report of the market research company.
French group Sanofi (including Zentiva) remains the market leader in Romania, with a 7.4% market share, followed by Hoffmann La Roche, with a 7.3% market share, and Novartis with a 6.1% market share. The next seven spots are taken by Servier (a 5.7% market share), Pfizer (a 5.2% market share), GlaxoSmithKline (a 4.8% market share), Merck & Co (a 4.1% market share), AstraZeneca (a 3.9% market share), Ranbaxy (a 3.8% market share) and Krka (a 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%.
In 2012, the local pharmaceutical market stood at RON2.63 billion, up 3.1% from 2011.