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Romanian pharmaceutical market drops by 4% in first quarter
Medicine sales in Romania at distribution prices dropped by 4% (to 668.8 million euro) in the first quarter, compared to the same period of 2013, on the background of a winter season warmer than usual, Cegedim data show.
“The evolution was below expectations in the first quarter, on the background of a warmer winter which led to the market drop at the level of the last 12 months. For 2014, when the list of compensated medicines has not been updated yet, we review the annual forecast from rising +2.7% to a slight drop of -0.3% in lei,” the general manager of Cegedim, Petru Craciun declared in a press release.
The drop of the first quarter was 1.5% to 3 billion lei.
In the period analysed retail sales dropped by 3.9% to 580.6 million euro, and in hospitals it dropped by 4.9% to 88.2 million euro. In lei the drops were of 1.3% for drug stores and 2.3% for hospitals.
On segments, prescription drugs in pharmacies reached 2.12 billion lei (471.7 million euro), on the drop by 2.2%, while those sold without prescription(OTC) reached 490 million lei (109 million euro), on the rise by 2.4%
In the last 12 months (April 2013- March 2014) the overall market value was 11.7 billion lei, on the drop by 1.2% against the same period of 2013 (April 2012-March 2013). In euro the market dropped by 0.8% to 2.63 billion euro.
Retail dropped by 0.7% to 2.27 billion euro, while sales to hospitals were reduced by 2.6% to 353.1 million euro. Sales of prescription medicines dropped by 1.6% to 1.87 billion euro, while OTC sales grew by 4.5% to 402.7 million euro.
The evolution of the main therapeutic groups in the last 12 months shows increases in volume over the market average in case of antineoplastic drugs and immunomodulators (7.6%) and for the cardiovascular system (0.8%). In point of value, the increase of antineoplastic medicines and immunomodulators (5.3%) and for the digestive system and metabolism (3.8%) is superior to the other groups.
The hierarchy of the main ten corporations in the last 12 months is the same as in the previous quarter. The leader is Hoffman La Roche with sales of 838.1 million lei and a market share of 7.2%, followed by Sanofi (including Zentiva) with 797.1 million lei and a share of 6.8% and Novartis with 683.3 million lei and 5.8%.
Top ten is completed by Servier (673.3 million lei and 5.8%), Pfizer (600.1 million lei and 5.1%), GlaxoSmithKline (510.3 million lei and 4.4%), Ranbaxy (464.6 million lei and 4%), Merck& Co (450.5 million lei and 3.8%), AstraZeneca (440.3 million lei and 3.8%) and Krka (316 million lei and 2.7%).
On positions 11-20 we find the companies Johnson & Johnson, Antibiotice, Abbvie, Teva, Menarini, Bayer, Bristol Myers Squibb, Alvogen, Actavis and Eli Lilly, whose market shares are between 2.5% and 1.6%.