Central & Eastern Europe Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare Reports

The pharmaceutical market of Central & Eastern Europe (CEE) is expected to reach US$104.2 billion at retail prices by 2016. The market is expected to expand by a moderate CAGR in US dollar terms, as the region’s economies recover from the global economic crisis.

Dominance of generic medicines
Generic medicines represent around half of the total CEE pharmaceutical market in value terms and almost three quarters in volume terms. Generics have retained their strong position in the region due to the demand for affordable drugs and the fact that some governments favour generics when selecting products for reimbursement, as they are usually cheaper than imported products and help to keep costs down. Although rising incomes have led to increased sales of branded products, recent financial difficulties are likely to have forced patients towards purchasing cheaper generics.

Central & Eastern Europe is home to a large number of generic companies, including Gedeon Richter, Krka, Polpharma and Zentiva, which have traditionally focused on the production of generics. Pharmstandard, Russia’s leading generic company, has a small number of original drugs in its portfolio, but many companies lack the funding that is required for extensive R&D. Branded generics are particularly common in CEE, especially in Russia, due to the tradition of self-medication, which has encouraged companies to produce pharmaceuticals with recognisable names and the erroneous belief that pure generics are unsafe.