Turkey - What are the future prospects for the Turkish pharmaceutical market?

The Turkish pharmaceutical market continues to exhibit strong growth.

Turkey is a key emerging market which is continuing to grow strongly, despite the government’s ongoing healthcare reforms and recent economic crisis. Due to its large population and GDP, Turkey accounts for around 40% the total Middle Eastern pharmaceutical market. The Turkish pharmaceutical market is expected to grow by a relatively high CAGR between 2010 and 2015, driven by import growth; the value of imports grew by 23.7% in 2008. Turkey carries out most of its trade with the EU and USA.

Around a third of the pharmaceutical market is represented by generic drugs, in value terms. As Turkey recovers from the economic downturn, generics may become a more popular alternative to expensive branded pharmaceuticals. This will be helped by the fact that generic substitution is legal in Turkey; the pharmacist is obliged to inform the patient of the substitution, but this may be declined. The ageing population and associated increase in health spending may also force the government to look into the possibility of using generics to cut costs.

Further reading - A detailed review of the Turkish pharmaceutical market is available from Espicom: The Pharmaceutical Market: Turkey (published May 2010)

Japan, Mexico, Turkey, Belgium and Sweden - Takeda to Expand Operations

Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. is establishing four new commercial subsidiaries in Mexico, Turkey, Sweden and Belgium. The Swedish subsidiary will also encompass Norway and Denmark, and the Belgian one will include Luxembourg.

Alan Mackenzie, executive vice president of international operations at Takeda Pharmaceuticals International, said, “Takeda has a significant opportunity to expand our presence in Mexico, Europe and other priority markets. Executing our territory expansion strategy is an important step toward further globalising our operations.”

The Tokyo-headquartered firm has also set up operations in Spain, Portugal, Ireland and Canada in recent months.

Further reading - In-depth reviews of the pharmaceutical markets in Japan, Mexico, Turkey, Sweden and Belgium are available from Espicom: The Pharmaceutical Market: Japan; The Pharmaceutical Market: Mexico; The Pharmaceutical Market: Turkey; The Pharmaceutical Market: Belgium; and The Pharmaceutical Market: Sweden (all published September 2009)