Romania's pharma market gains 10.6 pct to EUR 2.8 bln in 2016

The value of the Romanian pharma market stood at RON 12.95 billion (EUR 2.8 billion) on distribution prices last year, a growth by 10.6 percent compared with 2015, says Cegedim, the provider of data for the pharma industry.

The volume of drugs sold in Romania reached 542.8 million units in 2016, up by 2.1 percent compared with 2015, and also a growth in the total treatment days (5.9 percent).

Except the impact of programs cost-volume-result and cost-volume, the value of medical drugs from the pharmacies went down compared with 2015 (-3 percent).

In the last quarter of 2016, the total medical drugs volume for patients reached 144.9 million boxes, a growth by 5.4 percent compared with the last quarter of 2015, caused especially by the retail channel, registering an increase of 5.6 percent. The increase rate in volume was 3.3 percent for Rx in pharmacies, 10.1 for OTC in pharmacies and 1.8 percent for hospitals.

„Once with the annulment of the impact of prices reduction applied in 2015, in 2016 the pressure situation where is the Romanian patient, became obvious, as well as the procurement chain (distributors and pharmacies) and the producing companies. The hospital chain has a minimum role, with 5.1 percent of the total 11.7 percent of the drugs exempted in Romania and the majority of treatment needs are in the retail chain. The retail chain tries to maximize the trade potential of OTC segment and from there a part of the exported Rx products go to other markets, trying to survive the retail players.

The producing companies already support the market functioning from Romania by over RON 2 billion (clawback + payback) and don’t have so many resources to support a new prices cut as authorities would want to. The authorities are responsible for the recovery of the current situation, with deficit and discrimination, in the interest of the entire Romanian society. The current support level of 64 percent of the CNAS and MS funds, insufficient according to West-European usages, the regulations regarding the drugs based on prescription need to be revised to bring back the Romanian market on the right path: available and accessible treatments non-discriminated for the insured patients and sustainable for producers and procurement chain, plus adjustments in both senses, as well as regulations that support a loyal and fair competition,” said Petru Craciun, general director of Cegedim.

The three main pharma players in Romania by sales are Abbvie (RON 1.4 billion), Sanofi (RON 831 million) and Novartis (RON 591 million). This results takes into account the sales from January to December 2016.