The value of Greece's pharmaceutical market fell by 0.6% y/y in 2015 to USD6.27 billion, owing to a decline of 2.7% y/y in the value of the retail pharmaceutical sector. The value of the hospital-drug market increased last year by 5.7% y/y.
Implications | The retail pharmaceutical market's value fell slightly, but volume was up 1.6%, showing the growing prevalence of cheaper medicines; the opposite occurred in the hospital sector. |
Outlook | Greece's pharmaceutical market could grow in value in 2016 with the introduction of legislation providing free treatment for uninsured citizens, while the continued addition of new drugs in the hospital sector is likely to mean ongoing growth in this sector's value – bringing the risk of greater debt accumulation. |
Greece's pharmaceutical market declined in value by 0.6% year on year (y/y) in 2015 to EUR5.603 billion (USD6.321 billion), according to data from Greece's National Organisation for Medicines (EOF). The figure includes data on the retail pharmaceutical market, calculated in terms of retail prices, and the hospital market, calculated in hospital prices. According to the EOF's data, Greece's retail pharmaceutical market declined by 2.7% y/y in value to EUR4.119 billion in 2015. The hospital pharmaceutical market, by contrast, increased in value by 5.7% y/y to EUR1.484 billion.
EUR | Y/Y, % change | |
Private pharmacies and wholesalers | 4,119,448,188 | -2.7 |
Hospitals | 1,484,185,203 | 5.7 |
Total market | 5,603,633,391 | -0.6 |
Source: EOF | ||
Volume increases 0.9% y/y
Greek newspaper Imerisia reports that the EOF's data on the volume of the overall pharmaceutical market in the country in 2015 increased 0.9% y/y to 502,235,460 packages, thanks to an increase of 1.6% y/y to 424,288,315 in the number of packages sold in pharmacies. The volume of the hospital market fell by 2.6% y/y to 77,947,145. Imerisia reports that the trend of a reduced volume in the hospital sector accompanied by a higher value is the result of an increase in spending on expensive medicines and particularly those that were new to the market in 2015.
Packages | Y/Y, % change | |
|---|---|---|
Private pharmacies and wholesalers | 424,288,315 | 1.6 |
Hospitals | 77,947,145 | -2.6 |
Total market | 502,235,460 | 0.9 |
Source: EOF | ||
Imerisia highlights the fact that the pharmaceutical market's volume has not experienced such a dramatic reduction since the Greek economic crisis began in earnest in 2009, while the market's value has plummeted. In 2009, the source reports, the number of drug packages consumed in the country was 562 million, compared with 502 million in 2015, a decline of 10.7%. Meanwhile, the value of the market decreased from EUR8.5 billion in 2009 to EUR5.6 billion in 2015, a reduction of 34.1%. The main reason for this, according to the source, is the major reductions in pharmaceutical prices implemented during the intervening years.
Parallel exports rise dynamically
Imerisia reports, based on EOF data, that the value of parallel exports of medicines from Greece in 2015 rose by 30.9% y/y to EUR401.6 million, and expanded in volume by 90.1 % y/y to 19,126,566. The source adds that the average price of a parallel-exported medicine package in 2015 was EUR21, compared with EUR30.5 in 2014.
The EOF's table with data on the value of the Greek market in 2015 can be accessed at its website, here.
Outlook and implications
The budget for outpatient pharmaceutical reimbursement in 2016 may not exceed a sum just under EUR2 billion, although with the recent introduction of full eligibility for free prescription medicines for uninsured people – including migrants and refugees – it will be difficult for this target to be achieved. Contributions from international organisations towards healthcare provision for refugees is likely to have some effect on increasing outpatient drug spending, while producers continue to be concerned that the likely budget overspend would mean an even greater increase in their clawback payments than in previous years.
Growing expenditure in the hospital sector mirrors trends in other European nations, with new drugs coming into the market, such as treatments for hepatitis C. Of concern in the Greek context is the absence of an established organisation carrying out health technology assessment (HTA) for medicines in Greece that might be able to instill a little more discipline in the process of approving the use of new high-cost medicines in the public healthcare sector. With public hospital owing large sums to suppliers, a stream of new medicines entering the market puts greater pressure on them, which they may find difficult to withstand in the country's current financial situation.
The data on parallel exports in 2015 appear to show that there was a large increase in the volume of parallel-exported generics, considering the 90% y/y increase in the volume of parallel exports, with just a 30% y/y increase in the value of parallel drug exports. This is likely to be due to price cuts resulting from legislative changes on the pricing and reimbursement of generics and off-patent medicines.