The Australian generics market will benefit from the impending patent expiry of a number of successful drugs, which will cushion it against further government price cuts.
Recently-released data from the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) indicated that 12 out of the top 20 best-selling drugs by volume in 2008 were now available as generic drugs; the majority of these drugs experienced falling sales in the same year. An example of one of these drugs is Merck’s Zocor (simvastatin), whose patent expired in December 2008; this was the second leading drug by volume of sales. However, generic drugs are also going to be the target of further PBS price cuts, as the Scheme seeks to keep health expenditure low. For example, legislation that came into effect towards the end of 2008 has generally been viewed as negative by generic companies, which believe that they reduce the pharmacist’s ability to discount, as well as cutting prices.
It is likely that Australian imports of pharmaceuticals will increase by a substantial amount in 2010. This is because the Australian dollar in 2010 is projected to be as close to parity with the US dollar as it ever has been. Having invested in R&D pipelines in recent years, the PBS will be expecting new blockbuster drugs to emerge, and like in the past, the PBS will be willing to pay for them. Indeed, generic drugs will likely face the brunt of price cuts if a new blockbuster drug were to emerge.
Further reading - A detailed analysis of the Australian pharmaceutical market is available from Espicom: The Pharmaceutical Market: Australia (published January 2010)
Showing posts with label blockbusters. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blockbusters. Show all posts
Thursday, 28 January 2010
Italy - Will generics continue to gain greater acceptance in the Italian market?
A number of high profile drugs have lost patent protection; will the Italian generic market take off as a result?
The Italian pharmaceutical market is expected to remain one of Europe’s slower growing markets over the next five years. Growth will continue to be constrained by low economic growth, cost containment measures for reimbursable products, reference pricing and an expected expansion of the generics market due to patent expiry on several high volume products.
On the plus side, this may be good news for the generic industry. Even by southern European standards, the Italian generics market is small. Excessive price regulation, long national patent supplementary protection, a lack of incentive distribution margins, confusion between branded and unbranded generics, a perception of generics as second-class drugs and the empowerment of doctors to stop generic substitution are all factors that have traditionally constrained the unbranded generic sector.
The combination of high profile drugs losing patent protection and the need to reduce costs should provide a boost to the generic market. In addition to the blockbusters that have lost patent protection in Italy in the last couple of years, a large number of medicines will lose their national supplementary certificates during 2010. Consumer perception of generics and generic awareness continue to improve. The Italian generic market is also being consolidated by leading generic producers in the country.
However, the generic industry has been coming under increasing pressure from manufacturers of branded products, which have begun to implement price cuts to minimise loss of market share. Significant price reductions have been closing the gap between off-patent brands and unbranded generics. The generic industry still has some way to go, but anticipates continued growth in market share and a progressive alignment with the rest of Europe.
Further reading - A detailed review of the Italian pharmaceutical market is available from Espicom: The Pharmaceutical Market: Italy (published January 2010)
The Italian pharmaceutical market is expected to remain one of Europe’s slower growing markets over the next five years. Growth will continue to be constrained by low economic growth, cost containment measures for reimbursable products, reference pricing and an expected expansion of the generics market due to patent expiry on several high volume products.
On the plus side, this may be good news for the generic industry. Even by southern European standards, the Italian generics market is small. Excessive price regulation, long national patent supplementary protection, a lack of incentive distribution margins, confusion between branded and unbranded generics, a perception of generics as second-class drugs and the empowerment of doctors to stop generic substitution are all factors that have traditionally constrained the unbranded generic sector.
The combination of high profile drugs losing patent protection and the need to reduce costs should provide a boost to the generic market. In addition to the blockbusters that have lost patent protection in Italy in the last couple of years, a large number of medicines will lose their national supplementary certificates during 2010. Consumer perception of generics and generic awareness continue to improve. The Italian generic market is also being consolidated by leading generic producers in the country.
However, the generic industry has been coming under increasing pressure from manufacturers of branded products, which have begun to implement price cuts to minimise loss of market share. Significant price reductions have been closing the gap between off-patent brands and unbranded generics. The generic industry still has some way to go, but anticipates continued growth in market share and a progressive alignment with the rest of Europe.
Further reading - A detailed review of the Italian pharmaceutical market is available from Espicom: The Pharmaceutical Market: Italy (published January 2010)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)