Demand of medicine in retail continues growing above 10%
Valor Econômico - 03/06/2009
The pharmaceutical retail continues ignoring the crisis. The large drugstore chains registered, in the first two months of the year, sales above two digits. But the industry already begins talking about increase in costs, which may affect the discounts currently offered to the consumer. Pague Menos, the largest drugstore chain of the country, with 300 stores, 200 of which in the Northeast, sold 13% more in January and February, should the sales in the same stores existing in the same period of last year be taken into consideration . If the new stores are included, the increase reaches 20%. The growth plans of the chain, which sold R$ 1.5 billion (US$ 829 million) in 2008, were maintained for this year. Pague Menos opened four stores in January, two in February and it foresees eight other units between March and April. The February data of IMS Health, a company that audits the sales in retail, were not released yet, but the numbers from January presented an increase of 11.2% in the accumulated of the 12 previous years. According to the same criterion, the physical sales were 6.7% greater. The manufacturers of generic medicines are also ignoring the crisis. "There are no signs of a fall in the demand", says the president of Pró-Genéricos, Odnir Finotti, who says the volume of sales of the generic medicines increased 18% in January, above the average of the market. The entity has said the crisis has contributed for the segment, since a migration of consumers of branded medicines to generic medicines, which are cheaper, has been seen. Specialists use to say the pharmaceutical sector is one of the last sectors to be affected by the crisis, since the abandonment of treatment with medicines only occur when other items of the domestic budget - except for food - have already been cut.