|
|
 |
|
Viewing report
|
|
|
|
Portugal Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare Report Q1 2012
Business Monitor International, Dec 2011, Pages: 84
Business Monitor International's Portugal Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare Report provides industry professionals and strategists, corporate analysts, pharmaceutical associations, government departments and regulatory bodies with independent forecasts and competitive intelligence on Portugal's pharmaceuticals and healthcare industry.
BMI View: The EU/IMF economic rescue package, approved in May 2011, has widespread implications for the pharmaceutical sector, including changes to reimbursement, the obligation to prescribe by active ingredient and calls for a review of the reference price system. The industry has already had to tighten its belt in the face of regular price cuts in recent years – some multinationals such as Bayer have reduced their workforce in Portugal already – but even despite the downward pressure on pricing, opportunities are still available, particularly in the generic drug sector. Sanofi is one drugmaker which has seized this opportunity, with the launch of its generics arm in Portugal in October 2011; domestic player Bluepharma also made its ambitions in the generic drug sector known in the same month.
Headline Expenditure Projections
- Pharmaceuticals: EUR3.48bn (US$4.62bn) in 2010 to EUR3.39bn (US$4.85bn) in 2011; -2.5% in local currency and +5.1% in US dollar terms. Forecast raised from Q411 because of macroeconomic factors.
- Healthcare: EUR17.65bn (US$23.41bn) in 2010 to EUR18.05bn (US$25.81bn) in 2011; +2.3% in local currency and +10.2% in US dollar terms. Forecast lowered from Q411 because of macroeconomic factors.
- Medical Devices: EUR780mn (US$1.04bn) in 2010 to EUR830mn (US$1.18bn) in 2011; +6.4% in local currency and +14.7% in US dollar terms. Forecast raised from Q411 because of regulatory factors.
Business Environment Rating: Portugal’s score of 55.7 in Q112 places it at the bottom of the rankings for Western Europe. Ongoing price cuts, and austerity measures following the EU and IMF’s economic bailout package, rising unemployment rates and the fact that multinationals are reducing their operations in the country have had an impact on the score.
Key Trends & Developments
- In October 2011, parliament voted in favour of a bill to oblige doctors to prescribe by active ingredient, in accordance with the EC’s cost-cutting measures as part of its Economic Adjustment Programme. Doctors are highly critical of the measure.
- Health Cluster Portugal launched a new website in October 2011 to promote R&D activity in Portugal, to raise awareness of pharma activities in the country and to help drugmakers looking for Portuguese partners.
- Multinational, Sanofi, launched its generic drug division, Zentiva, in Portugal in October 2011. Meanwhile, domestic player, Bluepharma, announced plans to invest EUR50mn in the development of 10 generic drugs over the next five years.
BMI Economic View: Portugal’s EUR78bn (US$116bn) economic rescue package with the EU and the IMF, approved in May 2011, is already generating changes in the pharmaceutical market, with the EC targeting all aspects of healthcare as a means of making savings. With consumer spending power hitting rock bottom, and unemployment rates above 12% and rising, Portugal is almost certainly condemned to recession in the short term.
BMI Political View: If June’s general elections generated a long-desired sense of political stability, the government is realising that no matter what size majority is held in parliament, it has a difficult mandate on its hands. Unions had already called for a general strike in late November 2011 in protest at the austerity measures. Given the uphill struggle that the government faces, in late October 2011, it requested a degree of flexibility over the terms of its bailout package, in the hope that this would enable it to stimulate growth.
Product samples
A sample for this product is available. Please Login/Register to download this sample.
|
|
|
|
