Morocco Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare Report Q1 2010

By the end of 2008 Morocco's prescription drug market comprised US$915mn, or 67% of the total drug market. OTC medicines contributed 33%, while generics 19.6% and patented drugs 48%. By 2014 we believe that generic drugs will form 27.7% of the total drug market, with patented medicines still dominating at 44.5%, though we note that Morocco is generally pro-generic and that generics will eventually overtake patented drugs in terms of sales. By 2019 generics will lag only slightly behind patented drugs in terms of total market shares.

Moroccans are paying more for medicines than their counterparts in Tunisia, and prices should be lowered in line with purchasing power according to news website Magharebia. Local news source Zawya highlights the fact that patented drugs in Morocco cost locals up to 189% more than in Tunisia. Even in developed countries such as France, prices for patented medicines can be 70% lower than in Morocco. BMI believes that such misalignment between what people can afford and what they have to pay highlights regulatory deficiencies in Morocco which make the country unattractive for multinational drugmakers, particularly for generic medicine manufacturers. The situation is exacerbated by price variations for the same drug in different places in Morocco.

The move to reduce prices is in line with a wider programme to increase access to both drugs and healthcare services, particularly for those without health insurance who pay out-of-pocket for prescriptions. The government is also considering the introduction of mandatory health insurance to boost access to medicine and consumption. For obvious reasons, this would lower prices. However, BMI believes that lowering the costs of medicines should be urgently addressed, instead of waiting until wider and more time-consuming healthcare reforms are implemented.

We also argue that since the most expensive medicines were found by government research to be the most popular and abundant drugs available, consumption is evidently not the sole determinant of pricing in Morocco. Therefore seeking to increase consumption by health insurance will make little difference if the fundamental guidelines that regulate prices are not revised.

• Executive Summary
• SWOT Analysis
• Morocco Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare Industry SWOT
• Pharmaceutical Business Environment Ratings
• Risks to Realisation of Returns
• Market Summary
• Regulatory Regime
• Intellectual Property
• Pricing and Reimbursement Regime
• Industry Developments
• Epidemiology
• Healthcare Sector
• Healthcare Reforms
• Health Insurance
• Pharmaceutical Sector
• Pharmaceutical Distribution
• Research & Development
• Industry Forecast Scenario
• Overall Market Forecasts
• Key Growth Factors - Industry
• Economic Activity
• Prescription Drug Market Forecast
• Patented Product Market Forecast
• Generic Drug Market Forecast
• OTC Medicine Market Forecast
• Medical Device Market Forecast
• Pharmaceutical Trade Forecast
• Other Healthcare Data Forecasts
• Key Risks to BMI's Forecasts
• Competitive Landscape
• Company Profiles
• Sanofi-Aventis
• Pfizer
• GlaxoSmithKline
• Indigenous Producers
• Sothema
• Laprophan
• Promopharm
• Country Snapshot: Morocco Demographic Data
• Section 1: Population
• Section 2: Education and Healthcare
• Section 3: Labour Market and Spending Power
• BMI Methodology
• Ratings Overview
• Weighting
• Forecast Table: Middle East and Africa Pharmaceutical Business Environment Ratings, Q110
• List of Tables
  • Table: Leading Causes of Death in Morocco, 2002
  • Table: Morocco - Economic Activity, 2007-2014
  • Table: Demographic Indicators, 2005-2030
  • Table: Rural/Urban Breakdown, 2005-2030
  • Table: Education, 2002-2005
  • Table: Vital Statistics, 2005-2030
  • Table: Employment Indicators, 2001-2006
  • Table: Consumer Expenditure, 2000-2012 (US$)
  • Table: Pharmaceutical Business Environment Indicators
  • Table: Weighting of Components