Faced with dwindling growth rates in the US and Europe, pharmaceutical companies are turning their attention towards emerging pharmaceutical markets whose double-digit growth is fuelled by their recent economic booms. However, although the patient potential of the emerging market countries is enormous, foreign pharma companies are currently tapping into only a fraction of the consumers, due to fairly poor access to drugs in countries like India and China, and to an extent in Russia, Brazil and Turkey.

Nevertheless, many companies are keen to get a foothold as the purchasing power of the booming middle class and the countries’ as a whole is rising, and is driving the pharmaceutical market growth. According to a new report, the new middle class wants better healthcare and is willing to pay for it. “The governments are improving public provision of healthcare, more individuals can pay for drugs out of pocket and Big Pharma are there ready to bank on it and compensate for lower growth of the mature markets of the West,” says Datamonitor senior pharmaceutical analyst Dr Tijana Ignjatovic.

With slowing growth rates in western pharmaceutical markets many pharmaceutical companies are turning towards the fast growing emerging markets as new sustainable sources of revenue growth. Some of the countries that have attracted the most attention are Brazil, Russia, India, China and Turkey. Although the current pharmaceutical market values in these countries are not impressive compared to more mature markets, most are experiencing tremendous growth rates compared to the modest four to six percent growth seen in the US and Europe.

Recent rapid economic growth seen in the emerging market countries is one of the key drivers of the growth of their pharmaceutical markets. Growing disposable income, particularly of the new middle class, and the resulting increase in out-of-pocket expenditure on drugs, combined with the investment into public health provision seen in some countries is resulting in increased drug consumption, particularly modern western drugs.