Romania Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare Report Q3 2009

Romania places sixth among the 20 key markets surveyed as a part of BMI's Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare Business Environment Rankings, and can be found between Turkey and Estonia. Romania's current position reflects the robust nature of the industry in the country and the strong growth it has made in recent months. We envisage that sales of pharmaceutical products will increase over the next five year, with imports playing an important role in terms of sector growth. Sales of prescription drugs and overthe- counter (OTC) medications are expected to grow from US$3bn to US$4.64bn, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.09%.

According to data presented by the Cegedim, the Romanian pharmaceutical market grew by 6.6% y-o-y to reach a value of EUR1.94bn. However in volume terms, the market actually decreased by 2.3%. As such, analysts expect the market to stagnate in 2009, or even experience a slight decline. With regard to the corporate sector, recent data suggest that Roche has now become the lead pharmaceutical manufacturer present in Romania with a market share of 7.3 %, followed by Sanofi Aventis with 6.9% and GlaxoSmithKline also with 6.9%.

As part of efforts to improve public healthcare facilities, Health Minister Ion Bazac inaugurated a new obstetrics and gynaecology hospital in Bucharest. The facility, which has 195 beds, is the first medical unit to meet EU approved standards in the country. The hospital, which is designed to provide labour and delivery assistance, prenatal care as well as gynaecological examinations, was opened as a result of a EUR7mn investment.

Elsewhere, Medlife, one of Romania's leading private healthcare providers announced major plans for capital expenditure this year. Medlife aims to invest EUR5mn on enlarging the company's facilities, as well as the Memorial Hospital and the Maternal-Fetal Medical Centre in Bucharest. Each site is to be expanded by 500 square meters. As a result of the investment, the Memorial Hospital will have state of the art birth facilities and will offer new medical services, while the Maternal-Fetal Medical Centre will have the capacity to diversify into genetics and in-vitro fertilisation services. Medlife will also create a further 250 jobs this year, raising the total number of employees to 1,200.

According to representatives of the Romanian pharmaceutical industry, the price of OTC medicines has in increased by up to 50% some cases since Q109. A 50% price rise has also been registered for some cold medications, while considerable price increases have also been registered in the analgesic therapeutic segment. Distributors and importers argue that the increase in price is primarily due to the fall of the leu against the euro, as most OTC medications are imported. Importers have had to adjust prices to reflect changes in the exchange rates, which in turn, have translated into higher prices paid by consumers.