The top 20 largest companies on the Romanian pharmaceuticalmarket control almost 80% of sales, up from 70% a year ago, withthe industry witnessing a strong concentration trend, according todata provided by Cegedim Romania market research company.
"We're witnessing market consolidation. Whereas until 2009 thetop 20 companies held around 70% market share, starting 2010 theyare nearing 80%," said Petru Craciun, Cegedim Romania generalmanager.
Overall, the top 20 companies last year logged sales worth 6.3bnRON (1.5bn euros), up 22.4% from 2008.
A new name climbed to the top last year, as changes were alsotriggered by the international mergers and acquisitions thatimpacted on the Romanian market. Thus, the takeover of Zentiva,owner of the former Sicomed Bucuresti producer, propelledSanofi-Aventis to the top of the ranking, with a 10.1% market shareand comfortably ahead of Hoffmann La Roche, with a 9% share.Overall, international transactions produced four changes in thetop ten, while the domestic deal between Ozone and LaborMed pushedthe two companies in top 20.
At the level of the entire year, the Romanian pharmaceuticalmarket reached 8.1bn RON, up 13.1% from 2008, but it shrank interms of volume by 9.1%. In euros, sales fell by 1.7%, to 1.9bneuros.
From a territorial point of view, cities with more than 250,000inhabitants generated 55% of sales. This was also the only segmentwhere sales went up, while in medium-sized cities, accounting for a27% share, sales dropped by 1.1%; towns and the rural areas saw thesteepest decline.
The market evolution in terms of value in the context of fallingvolumes is accounted for by the rising sales of expensiveproducts.
According to Cegedim data, in terms of value, the weight ofproducts with prices over 50 euros rose last year to 34.2%, from28.5% in 2008, while the weight of products priced below 5 eurosdeclined considerably. Thus, though the Health Ministry imposed aprice cut, the move was not felt on the market as producerspromoted their expensive products, appealing both to distributorsand pharmacies.
At the level of last year, 791 new products were launched, while547 drugs exited the market. New products last year generated salesworth 34m euros, while the products that exited had generated13.21m euros in 2008.
Pentru alte știri, analize, articole și informații din business în timp real urmărește Ziarul Financiar pe WhatsApp Channels
