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Egypt Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare Report Q2 2008Published by: Business Monitor International Published: Apr. 4, 2008 - 71 Pages Table of Contents
AbstractThe Egyptian pharmaceutical market represents one of the least attractive in the Middle East and Africa(MEA) region.According to the latest BMI’s Business Environment Ratings, Egypt remains in thetwelfth position, above only Nigeria and Zimbabwe. Advantages offered by the country’s vast populationare, however, counterbalanced by difficult market access, excessive red tape and strict government pricecontrols, among other factors. Notably, per capita consumption is only around US$15 per year, given thelarge segments of poor and rural population. Nevertheless, the government seems to be moving in the right direction to attract foreign directinvestment (FDI) and foreign companies. To this end, authorities have tabled proposals to remove the bioequivalencytesting requirement even for drugs already on sale in advanced markets, although intellectualproperty (IP) enforcement continues to be questionable. According to figures released by the Organisationfor Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Egypt supplies around 7% of all globalpharmaceutical counterfeits. The figure for the local market can safely be considered much higher. Nevertheless, by 2012, BMI forecasts that the market will top US$2.53mn, up from only aroundUS$1.07bn in 2007. Price increases are expected to be one of the factors driving this growth. In January2008, Egypt’s Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) agreed an 8% price increase, bowing topressure from manufacturers worried by rising raw material costs. The price of the drugs had previouslybeen unchanged for over a decade, despite significant rises in costs of production, clearly raisingquestions over their financial viability. While a welcome move for drugmakers, the poor may now findcertain medicines becoming too expensive and out of their reach. In other areas of healthcare, the modernisation of facilities is driving growth in the medical devicesmarket. Egypt already represents one of the key markets for medical devices in the Middle East area,albeit a very competitive one. Most of the devices are supplied by foreign companies, which often actthrough a local agent. The medical devices market in Egypt, presently estimated to be worth aroundUS$225mn, is forecast to grow at an annual rate of around 10% over the coming few years and thusprovide considerable commercial opportunities for companies in the field. Get Full Details About This Report >> |
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