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Mexico Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare Report Q2 2007Published by: Business Monitor International Published: May. 1, 2007 - 63 Pages Table of Contents
AbstractMexico’s drug market appears on track to grow 8.8% year-on-year (y-o-y) in 2007 and tops BMI’s Q207 Latin American Business Environment Ranking. While Mexico’s growth rate trails that of Brazil and Colombia, the country’s regulatory and business environments continue to improve. The government of Felipe Calderón continues to invest in healthcare, and for the first time, more Mexicans have healthcare insurance than do not, albeit by a very narrow margin. BMI sees the market growing by an average 7.8% per annum from US$11.9bn to US$17.3bn in 2011. This growth rate appears sustainable and should see, as in Brazil, particularly strong growth from the emerging legitimate generics market.Despite strong growth, however, structural problems remain a key brake to further growth and market development. This is apparent in the state sector, where continued shortages of key medicines have been a major focus of government efforts. In late February, the president signed the ‘Compromise for the Guarantee of Sufficiency, Access and Fair Pricing for Medicines’ with leading drug distributors and pharmaceutical producers. The voluntary accord aims to address long-standing issues in the supply chain that affect state tenders, including, many believe, corruption and a lack of transparency. In the private sector, the head of the Inter-sector Council for the Pharmaceutical Chain (CICF) trade association points out that high prices are due to problems in the distribution sector and fragmentation in the retail sector. This translates into poorly monitored pharmacies - primarily in the poorest areas - and consequently some of the poorest people pay the most for medicines. For multinationals, there was good news as the Commission for Regulatory Improvement (Cofemer) issued guidance that pharmaceutical producers could gain sanitary registration - and hence the ability to register and sell their medicines in the country - without a presence in the country. This follows the president’s backing of these measures, and the rules are expected to be added to amendments to the country’s General Health Law, currently awaiting legislative approval. With most research-based multinationals already present in the country, the move should benefit foreign generics producers. The generics market will see a boost in volumes but increasing pricing competition following retailer Walmex’s decision to sell a range of generics for MXN39 (US$3.50), mirroring parent WalMart’s US$4.00 prescription drugs scheme launched last autumn in the US. The move by Walmex should give a boost to the local Canifarma alliance of pharmaceutical producers, who are reportedly sourcing many of the generics. WalMex is challenging such rival pharmacy chains as Fragua, Casa Saba and Nadro, as well as low-cost promoters of copy drugs, known locally as similares, Farmacias Similares (‘Simi’) and its rival Farmacias del Ahorro. The hope is that increased competition could finally see the country’s notoriously high margins on medicines fall, vital for increasing access to medicines. Get Full Details About This Report >> |
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