Global Insight Perspective | |
Significance | The ranking of the top three pharmaceutical companies remains the same, with sales of the most widely requested 10 drugs in Romania generating over 200 million euro (US$269.5 million). |
Implications | The bestsellers were Roche's Neorecormon, (kidney-cancer caused anemia) with 37.9 million euro and Pegasys (hepatitis) with 28.8 million euro; GSK's antibiotic Augmentin totalled 21 million euro and over-the-counter (OTC) Neurofen stood at 20.4 million euro. |
Outlook | The ranking of the top three pharmaceutical players is unchanged from 2006, and Romania remains a very attractive market. Although medicine consumption currently stands at 71 euro per capita, this figure is expected to grow by up to 9% year-on-year (y/y) presenting great opportunities for continued growth. |
Over the period of July 2006-June 2007, the most requested top ten drugs in Romania generated over 200 million euro (US$269.5 million) in revenues, Rompres reports. During July 2006-June 2007, drugs with highest sales were Roche's anaemia drug Neorecormon/Epogin with sales of 37.9 million euro, followed by hepatitis drug Pegasys (peginterferon alpha-2a) with 28.8 million euro and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)'s antibiotic Augmentin, with 21 million euro. In the over-the-counter (OTC) segment, best-selling drug was influenza ('flu) remedy Neurofen, generating sales of 20.4 million euro.
The ranking of the top three highest-selling pharmaceutical companies remained virtually unchanged from 2006, during the second quarter (Q2) of 2007 with GSK leading the way, closely followed by Roche and Sanofi-Aventis.
Company | Q2 2007 Romanian Sales (euro mil.) | Market Share (%) | Sales July 2006-June 2007 (euro mil.) |
GSK | 40 | 8% | 150 |
Hoffman La Roche* | 35 | 6.9% | 130 |
Sanofi Aventis | 30 | 6.6% | 125 |
Source: Cegedim Romania. | |||
In comparison, the ranking of the top 10 pharmaceutical companies in Romania by the end of March 2007 was as follows:
Top 10 Pharma Companies in Romania , End-March 2007 | ||
Company | Moving annual total (mil. euro) | Market share (%) |
GSK | 141.6 | 8 |
Roche | 123.5 | 7 |
Sanofi Aventis | 115.8 | 6.6 |
Novartis | 110.1 | 6.2 |
Pfizer | 102.1 | 5.8 |
Servier | 97.2 | 5.5 |
Ranbaxy | 90.3 | 5.1 |
Zentiva | 89.1 | 5.1 |
Antibiotice | 57.6 | 3.3 |
Krka | 46.7 | 2.7 |
Source: Cegedim Romania. | ||
In the first half of 2007, the Romanian pharmaceutical market increased by around 19% to 3.05 billion lei (US$1.249 billion), exceeding market forecasts. Among the domestic producers, Zentiva Romania (formerly Sicomed) posted sales worth 47.38 million euro in the first six months of 2007, 21.3% higher in comparison with the first half of 2006. The Romanian pharmaceutical market had posted a 20% growth increase in 2006, exceeding 1.5 billion euro year-on-year, (y/y) driven mostly by increases in the retail sales of prescription drugs, which accounted for 79% of retail sales; OTC drugs took a 21% share, clocking the highest growth rate among European Union member-states in Eastern and Central Europe.
Foreign Investment Expected at 7.2 billion Euro in 2007
According to experts, Romania is expected to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) worth approximately 7.2 billion euro in 2007.This will be the second-highest value ever, after record-high FDI of 9.1 billion euro was achieved in 2006.In the first six months of 2007, the volume of foreign investments in Romania stood at 2.96 billion euro.
Outlook and Implications
Romania has become a magnet for foreign investors, due to the size of its market (22 million), its fast growth, lower production costs—compared to older EU member states—and direct access to the EU. Foreign pharmaceutical giants, such as GSK, Roche and Sanofi-Aventis remain leaders on the market and their market share since 2006 remains virtually unchanged.
While Roche's best-selling drug in Romania was Neorecormon, global sales of the drug in the first half of 2007 were down 4%, due to increased generic competition (see Switzerland: 12 July 2007: Cancer drugs Help Roche's H1 Revenues to Beat Forecasts as CEO is Replaced). In contrast, global sales of hepatitic drug Pegasys were 11% higher compared to the first six months of 2006, at 807 million Swiss francs (US$ 669 million). Meanwhile second global sales of GSK's antibiotic Augmentin were down 8% compared to the same period in 2006 (see United Kingdom: 26 July 2007: GSK Maintains 2007 Outlook Despite Avandia Controversy Denting Q2 Revenue).
Romania's low operating costs, the size of its market and its potential as the purchasing power of the population grows will continue to be growth drivers for the pharmaceutical sector. Although Romania's medicine consumption currently stands at 71 euro per capita, this figure is expected to grow by up to 9% y/y, creating great opportunities for investors. Romania's pharmaceutical market is expected to grow by up to 1.8 billion euro in 2007.