Generics drive pharma growth in Latin America

08 November 2007 20:52  [Source: ICIS news]

NEW YORK (ICIS news)--Generic drugs are driving growth in Latin America, creating a thriving regional pharmaceutical industry, a consultant said on Thursday.

“If you look at the total Latin American [pharmaceutical] market in 2006, it was $29bn [€20bn], and it’s growing quickly,” said Jan Ramakers, director of the Jan Ramakers Fine Chemicals Consulting Group.

“That’s part of the attraction of this region," he said.

Generic drugs provide the greatest growth in the Latin American pharmaceutical market, Ramakers said.

Uptake varies from country to country, but health insurance companies and state authorities are pushing generics over branded drugs because of their lower prices, he said.

“This is also what is going on in Europe and in the US,” Ramakers said.

"In the UK, 60% of the market share is taken up by generics, which accounts for 30% of the value of the total pharmaceutical market there," he said. "The non-generics sector also has opportunity because there are still proprietary products on the market."

Dosage-form companies make up the majority of the pharmaceutical companies in Latin America, although there are a few active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) manufacturers, mainly in Mexico, Ramakers said.

Most APIs are imported from outside Latin America, mostly from India, China, the US and Europe, he said.

Mexico leads the pharmaceutical industry in Latin America, ranking as the 10th largest pharmaceutical market worldwide, Ramakers said.

“We’re talking about a roughly $12bn market with a growth of about 12% in 2005. It is at least at that level today,” Ramakers said.

Brazil is the second-biggest Latin American market, followed by Argentina, he said.

Across the region, average growth is about 13%, a rate that could expand Latin America’s pharmaceutical market to $50bn by 2011, Ramakers said.

[For more on this story, see the 12 November issue of ICIS Chemical Business magazine.]

($1.00 = €0.68)

By: Feliza Mirasol
+1 713 525 2653

< previous article(VIDEO - ICIS news Asia Lunchtime Bulletin 2 November 2009)

For the latest chemical news, data and analysis that directly impacts your business sign up for a free trial to ICIS news - the breaking online news service for the global chemical industry.

Get the facts and analysis behind the headlines from our market leading weekly magazine: sign up to a free trial to ICIS Chemical Business.

Printer Friendly