The Romanian branch of the pharmaceutical giant Sanofi-Aventis intends to reach a 7.5% market share by the end of this year, compared with approximately 6.5% for 2006, says Dan Ivan, general manager of Sanofi-Aventis Romania.

Sanofi-Aventis is the third largest player on the local market, closing 2006 with sales worth 100 million euros, amid a 20% growth rate, higher that of the market. For this year, the company targets an over 15% turnover increase. The growth of the pharmaceutical market, particularly in the rural area, will also contribute to Sanofi-Aventis' business growth locally.

"Currently, there is quite a large gap between the access to medication of the rural population and that of people in urban areas. In rural areas, drug consumption is much lower than the country average for many reasons, with the shortage of medical personnel being one of them. This potential is enormous. The market could double only if consumption in rural areas matched urban consumption," Dan Ivan, general manager of Sanofi-Aventis Romania told ZF Transilvania.

If one considers an approximately 15% growth rate, the market could double within the next five years.

"The market should double in order for expenditures to reach the average expenditures of countries in Central and Eastern Europe. The market growth has to do, on the one hand, with the GDP increase, with the increase in the percentage of the GDP allocated for health care services, with wage raises and, naturally, with the rise of the private insurance sector," added Dan Ivan.

Sanofi-Aventis operates in therapeutic areas such as the cardiovascular area, the central nervous system, oncology, diabetes, internal medicine and vaccines.

The company is present with drugs both on the RX segment (prescription drugs), as well as on the OTC (over-the-counter) drug segment. Sanofi Aventis has only