Piribo: Argentina Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare Report Q3 2006, new publication announcement

Piribo, the online destination for business intelligence for the biotech and pharmaceutical industry, has now added a new report called “Argentina Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare Report Q3 2006”. http://www.piribo.com/publications/country/latin_america/argentina/argentina_pharmaceuticals_healthcare_report_q3_2006.html

The Argentine pharmaceutical market was valued at US$2.3bn in 2005, and is expected to reach a value of US$3.25bn in 2010. While the market has recovered from the 2002 economic crash in unit terms, sales value expressed in US dollar terms has still not reached its former level. Such a development is unlikely in the medium to long term, as the currency is not expected to return to its value prior to the termination of so-called 'convertibility' in the wake of the crisis.

Although the over-the-counter market is likely to remain minor
- at less than 10% of sales
- this obscures the fact that many prescription drugs are available under the counter in Argentina. Accordingly, although regulatory conditions for the non-prescription sector are better than in many other Latin American markets, medicines requiring presentation of a doctor script, and generic products in particular, are likely to record significantly stronger demand growth over the forecast period. This is attributable to the pervasive influence of the public sector in pharmaceutical reimbursement, with welfare schemes expressly purchasing copy medicines, mainly of local origin.

It is viewed that research-based multinationals will capture a lesser share of the forecast value growth than indigenous firms, which will continue to benefit from discriminatory pricing and lax enforcement of patents. A pharmaceutical price freeze affecting some 20% of all products registered in Argentina was implemented in late 2005, and has now been extended until at least the end of 2006 as the government continues to battle resurgent inflation. Faced with such a poor environment for hi-tech medicines, multinationals including US major Bristol-Myers Squibb and Germany's Altana have exited the local manufacturing sector in recent months. More positively, France's Sanofi-Aventis has invested in a hepatitis B antigens facility, but multinationals remain generally cautious on the market. The sizeable indigenous sector, meanwhile, continues to consolidate around a few leading players, which are increasingly turning to international markets in order to maintain revenue flows.

Business Environment Rankings for Argentina reflect this state of affairs, placing Argentina last out of the eight major Latin American markets surveyed by BMI. Argentina's position is below that of Peru, reflecting the impact of US free trade agreements in the Andean region as well as the market's unique operational risks.

Contents
Executive Summary
Argentina: Business Environment Ranking
Argentina: Market Summary
Industry Trends & Developments
Industry Developments
Industry Forecast Scenario
Competitive Landscape
Competitive Landscape
Company Monitor
Latin America: Regional Market Overview
BMI Forecast Modelling
Appendix: Regional Demographic Data

“Argentina Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare Report Q3 2006” is available from Piribo. For more information go to: http://www.piribo.com/publications/country/latin_america/argentina/argentina_pharmaceuticals_healthcare_report_q3_2006.html

Piribo Product ID: BMI079

About Piribo.
Piribo (http://www.piribo.com) is a UK-based independent online store supplying business information on the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. The website now carries over 3,800 English language titles including, market reports, studies and books and is the UK’s largest online biopharma information store. Subscribers receive a free monthly newsletter and email alerts on new titles in their areas of interest. The company was established in 2004.