According to the analytical company «Pharmaceutical Marketing Group» (PMG), in the first quarter the Moldovan pharmaceutical market demonstrated a serious breakthrough — growth by 16.3% compared to the same period last year. In monetary terms, the turnover of the pharmaceutical market increased to 44.5 million euros. This is the first positive dynamics in three years: since 2016, the market has decreased sales by 18% to 154 million euros.

This surge in the pharmaceutical business is explained in different ways. On the one hand, there was an increased demand for antiviral drugs and immunostimulants during the cold season. And the season was «fruitful»: from October 1, 2018 to March 10, 2019, more than 2 thousand cases of influenza, more than 226 thousand upper respiratory tract infections and 11 thousand cases of acute respiratory diseases were detected in Moldova.

However, such a large increase is practically impossible due to this drug group alone. Operators believe that it was primarily influenced by the introduction of a new mechanism of drug reimbursement, which required an additional 60 million lei. Since February 1 this year, patients have been receiving compensated drugs (148 common international names) for free, which increased the demand for them many times. Secondly, the procurement budget of medicines for the hospital sector increased in 2019.

According to PMG, the top 10 pharmaceutical companies account for over 30% of the market. The first line is occupied by Gedeon Richter with a market share of 6.4% (18% growth in Q1). Berlin-Chemie Menarini Int» with the market share of 5.2% (+22.8%) ranks second. In third place is KRKA with a 5.1% share (+23.5%). 

Also in the top ten: Takeda with a 3% share (+5), World Medicine with 2.6% (-1.6%), Sanofi with 2.3% (+9.7%), Glaxo SK+GSK Consumers with 2.2% (+18.4%), Nobel Ilac with 2% (+29.4%) and Turkey’s Bilim with 1.9% (+11.9%).

For the first time, a Moldovan manufacturer made it to the top 10. It was Balkan Pharmaceuticals, which in the first quarter managed to occupy 1.8% of the pharmaceutical market and increase its turnover by more than 30%. Balkan was displaced from the tenth place by the German Bayer, which had 1.7% of the market and 13% growth.

«Balkan Pharmaceuticals» has been very active over the past two years. Thus, in 2017, the company ranked 16th in the overall ranking, having registered 104 pharmaceuticals. Today, it is already a clear leader in terms of assortment: its portfolio includes 139 drug names produced in different forms. That is, we are talking about a drug line exceeding 200 types of products. And over 90% of the total production volume is sold in Moldova, including through public procurement. The enterprise with a capacity of 7 million packages per year produces the most popular generics — anti-asthmatic, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, hormonal drugs, etc. The company is currently building a second factory building. Now the company is building a second factory building in Syndzhera, also with an area of 10,000 square meters, for the production of antibiotics.

In 2019, the best-selling drug of Balkan Pharmaceuticals was Esculap (potency enhancer). In second place was the antifungal «Fluconazole». Also in circulation were «Aciclovir», «Citramon» and «Dexametazon». This manufacturer is no longer increasing volumes only due to government procurement and confidently competes with imports. 

In the first quarter, 907 pharmaceutical manufacturers operated on the pharmaceutical market, of which 15 were Moldovan. Among the local plants, apart from Balkan, the most prominent were two other companies — Farmaprim with a market share of 0.9% and Flumed Farm with a share of 0.8%. In PMG’s ranking, the former is in 23rd place and the latter in 27th. They did not have significant growth at the beginning of this year.

A curious picture was observed in the structure of retail sales. In the OTC drugs segment, the highest turnover in Moldova was «Cardiomagnyl». In the first quarter its sales amounted to 297 thousand euros. The second place was occupied by «Dexalgin», which generated 245.3 thousand euros in sales. In third place was the anti-inflammatory «Canephron» with a volume of 170 thousand euros. In addition to them, the top five were Rhinostop (155.2 thousand euros) and Tylol Hot (142.7 thousand euros).

Groprinosin was the undisputed leader among prescription drugs, with sales exceeding 457,000 euros. Next on the list were Nimesile (€292,000), Cocarnit (€246,000), Fluzak (€193,500) and Artoxan (€192,000). 

In a number of cases, the OTC group could provide the largest increase. A paradox has occurred. Many OTC drugs have been included in the list of reimbursed drugs for a small category of patients. And, according to the fresh Regulation on Ethical Promotion of Medicines, any advertising of compensated drugs is prohibited. The manufacturers asked the Ministry of Health to reconsider the innovation, since the basis of such drugs is over-the-counter use, not their narrow use. In this case, because of one hundred patients, thousands of others were deprived of information about the drug, which affected the income of pharmacy retailers.

And it continues to focus on pharmacy chains. Today there are over 1.1 thousand pharmacies in Moldova, of which 675 are chain pharmacies. There are seven pharmacy chains competing in the market, six of which belong to wholesale companies. Farmacia Familiei from Dita Estfarm is the leader with a big gap — it has 172 pharmacies. Hipocrates» from «Tetis International» has 140 pharmacies. Felicia has 115 of them, and it is the only chain that was initially launched as a retail chain without being tied to a wholesaler. «Vinamex from Orient has managed to open 90 pharmacies. Elody by Becor has 74 pharmacies. «RihPanGalPharm has opened 43 Gedeon Richter pharmacies. «Tri V Farm opened 41 pharmacies, including under the name Mama.

There is a rumor in pharmaceutical circles that Balkan Pharmaceuticals is launching its own pharmacy network. This is a serious bid, given the company’s capabilities and the capacity of the local market. According to some reports, the manufacturer has already opened seven pharmacies under two names — Natifarm and Farmcomplex Prim. 

But, according to the director of Balkan Pharmaceuticals’ representative office, Jeorgel Baczynski, the Moldovan manufacturer does not intend to create its own network and develop a retail division yet. It is concentrated exclusively on production and wholesale supplies. As for the above-mentioned pharmacies, they belong to partner companies that closely cooperate with the Moldovan plant.

The second quarter is unlikely to surprise the pharma business in any way: operators are not expecting a big surge in sales. They would like to keep the dynamics until the fall, when the «hot season» traditionally begins. And it feeds for six months….

Irina MATENKO, Economicheskoe Obozrenie «Logos Press»