Generic drug market in the Central and Eastern Europe, which was worth €17.2billion last year, is expected to grow by around 14 percent per annum between 2009 and 2011, up to €22.3billion.
According to a report compiled by the Polish-based research and consulting company, generics market (drugs produced and distributed without patent protection), has exceeded both in value and growth rate of original market, thus grabbing a market share of 60%.
“Although the innovative drug market in Central and Eastern Europe will develop at a slower rate than that of generic drugs between 2009 and 2011, the growth rate of original medicines for the whole region will be positive. It has, for the time being, been compromised by the cost-containment policies of the CEE countries, which have been stepped up during the global financial crisis”, PMR said.
However, in the medium term PMR expects an improvement in health awareness and the modernization of healthcare systems, including the development of private health insurance and the establishment of health insurance and drug reimbursement systems, similar to those in European countries, in Russia and Ukraine, to be drivers of the innovative drug market in the CEE countries. An additional driver will be the aging of the population in the region.
The growth of the generics market will also be fuelled by the CEE’s largest drug manufacturers such as Gedeon Richer, Krka, Egis and Zentiva, present also in Romania. The second group of countries that consists of global generic players, such as Dr. Reddy’s (India) and Actavis (Iceland), will also bring their contribution to the global growth of generics segment.
A number of consolidation processes recently took place in the generic arena, which were of great importance for Central and Eastern Europe. For example, Teva gained a strong presence in the region through
