Generic medicines grow 19% and advance more than the market
Folha de S. Paulo
The sector of generic medicines grew 19.4% in 2009, driven by the economic crisis. 330.9 million units were sold compared to the 277.1 million units of a year before, announced the Pró Genéricos (Brazilian Association of the Industries of Generic Medicines). Last year, the industries of the sector had operations that amounted to R$ 4.5 billion (US$ 2.3 billion), growth of 24% compared to 2008 (R$ 3.6 billion / US$ 2 billion).
The President of Pré Genéricos, Odinir, Finotti, affirms the sector stood out as there were more consumers willing to reduce the costs during the crisis. "New customers came to this market in 2009". In comparison with the average of the pharmaceutical market, the sector grew 2.3 times more in units - the general market grew 8.2%, with 1.769 billion units.
There was also an increase in the participation of the generic medicines in the pharmaceutical market. In units, it went from 17% in 2008 to 18.7% last year. In values, from 13.8% to 15.1%. For 2010, Pro Genéricos intends to grow between 15% and 20%, exceeding 22% of market share.
According to Pro Genéricos, the patents of 12 medicines will expire this year. Nevertheless, there are no guarantees they will come to the generic market. As anticipated by Folha, the SDE (Secretariat of Economic Law) investigates anti-competition conducts to prevent or delay the launching of generics.