The Pharmaceutical Market: Romania (pdf/xls)

Additional Information

THE PHARMACEUTICAL MARKET: ROMANIA - REVIEW

The future of the coalition government is uncertain but the economy is strengthening, albeit it slowly. The popularity of both the president and the government has fallen since an austerity budget was unveiled in 2010. Although the next parliamentary election is scheduled for November 2012, it is possible that a new government could be formed before this date. If the Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR) leaves the current coalition in favour of joining the Social Liberal Union (USL), it could form a new alliance of three political parties that has the support of about 60% of the population. The USL is counting on the UDMR’s support to secure a parliamentary majority, but if it is successful in ousting the Democratic Liberal Party, its parties will need to find a way of overcoming the problems that would arise from their clashing political standpoints.

In July 2010, the Romanian Health Insurance House (CNAS) approved a new method of calculating reimbursement for partially reimbursed prescription-only drugs, which could lead to patients paying on average 40% more for their medication. Under the new system, reimbursement will be calculated on the basis of therapeutic class, rather than on the generic reference product (INN). As the cheapest generic medicine in each therapeutic group will be reimbursed, the amount patients will have to pay for all other products will increase. While the cheapest and most popular drugs will be almost completely reimbursed, the majority of the cost of the more expensive, modern drugs will have to be covered by the patient, saving the state US$426.6 million per year. According to the Romanian Association of International Drug Producers (ARPIM), patients will have to revert to using drugs that were developed 30-40 years ago as the co-payments for more modern drugs will no longer be affordable.

The Romanian pharmaceutical market will rank fourth in Central & Eastern Europe in 2016. Romania’s market size is comparable to Hungary; in per capita terms, the market is similar to Bulgaria. The market is expected to expand by a considerably high CAGR over the 2011-2016 period. Imports represent a large proportion of the market. The expansion of the market is largely driven by import growth. The growth rate of the pharmaceutical market may be affected by slow economic recovery. Whilst the large population creates demand for pharmaceuticals, the low GDP per capita means that patients are unlikely to be able to afford the most expensive drugs and will settle for the cheaper alternatives.

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