Record sale of medicines gets close to US$ 10 billion in 2007
Valor Econômico 01/03/2008
Stimulated by the growth of the income of the population, the progress of the generic medicines, and a steady and strong exchange rate, the sales of the Brazilian pharmaceutical industry should reach, for the first time, the mark of approximately US$ 10 billion last year. For 2008, the IMS Health foresees a 12% to 13% growth for the so-called "pharmerging", the neologism created by the main company that monitors the global sales of the pharmaceutical industry to fast growing countries such as Brazil, China, Mexico, Korea, India, Russia, and Turkey. The figures of the IMS Health only take into account the sales made by private means, such as pharmacies and drugstores, excluding the revenues resulting from sales to the government, hospitals, and clinics. These markets will reach sales between US$ 85 billion and US$ 90 billion in 2008, and that led the IMS Health, on a recent conference, to point that these markets should already be responsible for one fourth of the global pharmaceutical sales. The seven largest markets, led by the United States, Japan, and the European countries, represent half of the trade of medicines; nonetheless they have already had a much larger participation. According to the IMS Health, the mature markets, in general, start to suffer greater restrictions and lack of dynamism. Leading products will have their patents expired in large markets, as it is the case of Risperdal (Jansenn-Cilag's, for the treatment of psychotic disorder); Fasamax (Merck's, for the treatment of osteoporosis); Topamax (Jansenn-Cilag's, for the treatment of epilepsy); Lamictal (GlaxoSmithKline's, for the treatment of bipolar disorder); and Depakote (Abbott's, also for the treatment of bipolar disorder). Countries like Brazil may receive greater attention from the multinational industries that import a lot. The most recent data examined by the IMS Health indicates that the sales of the pharmaceutical sector in Brazil have reached US$ 9.88 billion in the 12 months ended in October, an increase of 10% over the same previous period. In 2007, the country should rank 9th place.