The domestic drug market rose by 24.2% in the first nine months of this year from a year ago and reached 7.3bn RON (1.7bn euros) as calculated in terms of distributor prices, reveal the data provided by Cegedim Romania market research firm.
The market has had a good performance during the entire crisis period, but, against the second quarter sales posted a slight slowdown, so that it went from a 35% growth in that period, the past year's record, to 20.4% in the third quarter.
Since the start of the year, the market has been mainly kept in the black by the price increase approved by the Health Ministry on April 1.
"While market values and increases are still attractive, we believe there are at least two major problems as regards the future directions of the market. On the one hand, payment terms to pharmacies, accounting for almost 90% of the market, are long (more than 6 months), so that we have commercial or financial loans worth over 1bn euros on the market (...) On the other hand, the lower public support for some categories is pushing up patients' out-of-pocket expenses," said Petru Crăciun, Cegedim general manager.
The domestic drug market rose by 24.2% in the first nine months of this year from a year ago and reached 7.3bn RON (1.7bn euros) as calculated in terms of distributor prices, reveal the data provided by Cegedim Romania market research firm.
The market has had a good performance during the entire crisis period, but, against the second quarter sales posted a slight slowdown, so that it went from a 35% growth in that period, the past year's record, to 20.4% in the third quarter.
Since the start of the year, the market has been mainly kept in the black by the price increase approved by the Health Ministry on April 1.
"While market values and increases are still attractive, we believe there are at least two