Romania’s pharma market up 10.9% y/y in 2019

The value of Romania’s pharmaceutical market, including the drugs sold in pharmacies and those used for patients in hospitals, rose to RON 17.82 billion (EUR 3.8 bln) last year, according to an analysis of market research firm Cegedim, quoted by Ziarul Financiar.

The value of the market is measured based on distribution prices.

Measured in volume terms, the market rose by only 2.1% year-on-year to 625 million boxes.

The sales of prescription drugs in pharmacies increased by only 0.5% last year, to 377.4 million boxes, the sales of medicines without prescription (OTC) went up 5.5%, to 217.8 million boxes, and the sales of drugs in hospitals declined by 1.8%, to 30.3 million boxes.

Meanwhile, in value terms, sales of prescription drugs in pharmacies increased by 7.8%, to RON 11.48 bln (EUR 2.4 bln), sales of OTC drugs went up by 14.1%, to RON 4.03 bln (EUR 845 mln), and sales of drugs in hospitals surged by 22.1%, to RON 2.3 bln (EUR 482 mln).

This indicates to either an increase in drug prices or a higher share of more expensive drugs in the total sales.

French group Sanofi remained the leader of the local pharmaceutical market in 2019, with sales of RON 930 mln and a market share of 5.2%, followed by Merck&Co (RON 911 mln, 5.1% market share), and Novartis (RON 810 mln, 4.5% market share).

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