Slovakia Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare

Summary

The Slovakian pharmaceuticals market is poised for period of transition following the country's recent general election which saw the centre-left Smer party gain control from the centre-right SDKU party. Growth is now expected to be less than previously thought because of Smer's socialist leanings, according to BMI 's newly-published "Slovakia Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare Report".

Nevertheless, the country is one of the more developed drug markets in the Central & Eastern European (CEE) region, with per capita drug expenditure estimated at US$126 in 2005. The adjusted Business Environment Rankings for the CEE region reveal that Slovakia ranks seventh out of fourteen countries, just behind nations such as the Czech Republic and Poland. Slovakia scored highly on political risk and market growth potential, but was let down by market size.

Under the SDKU regimen, the country had almost eliminated crippling healthcare debts accrued since the dissolution of Czechoslovakia. However, success in cutting deficits clearly came at a cost, typified by the healthcare worker strikes that hit Slovakia in April 2006. Public funding - including government and social health insurance spending - accounted for about 89% of total health expenditure in 2000, well above the OECD average of 72%. The government intends to pay an additional SKK6bn (US$203mn) each year to health insurance companies for the people insured by the state.

Foreign pharmaceuticals firms are upbeat about investing in Slovakia after the country was removed from International Intellectual Property Alliance's 2006 list of countries deemed to be failing to provide sufficient intellectual property protection and fair market access. But a recent amendment to the Slovak medicines law that hinders the approval of generic medicines was criticised by both the country's generic medicines association and the European Generic Medicines Association. The amendment contained a provision allowing the Slovakian State Institute for Drug Control to refuse registration applications for generic versions of drugs that are still covered by a patent, which is against EU legislation.

Health Minister Ivan Valentovic's first goals are to stop the transformation of hospitals into joint-stock companies and to abolish the symbolic doctors' fees introduced by the previous regime. However, fellow member of the victorious coalition - the nationalist SNS party - believes that the fees are effective and wants to conduct a technical discussion on the matter with its partners.

Key Benefits of Report

• Rely On Our Independent 5-Year Forecasts As A Benchmark
  to test other views - a key input for successful budgetary and strategic business planning.
• Target Business Opportunities & Risks
  through our reviews of latest industry trends, regulatory changes, and major deals, projects and investments
• Exploit Latest Competitive Intelligence & Company SWOTS
  on your competitors and peers through company rankings by sales, market share and ownership structure – includes multinational and national companies.

Scope of Report

An at-a-glance perspective on latest regulatory developments, key forecast indicators and major corporate developments, covering the prescription, OTC and generics markets. The SWOT outlines strategic factors which affect BMI’s forecast analysis, and taken together with BMI’s Economic and Business Environment SWOTS, give a complete overview of market climate.

Outline of market characteristics, growth factors, leading therapeutic segments and a competitivness of the market.

Guide to and analysis of country intellectual property developments and pricing & reimbursement issues, which constitute the regulatory make-up of the market.

Focus on government healthcare reforms, epidemiological trends, company M&As, product launches, market entries, FDI activity, R&D and patent legislation.

5-Year Forecasts to end-2010 for all key industry indicators (see list below), supported by explicit assumptions, plus analysis of key downside risks to the main forecast, including:

• Drug market expenditure (US$bn); drug expenditure per capita (US$); as % of gdp
• Prescription drug market (US$bn)/as % of total market; sales by alimentary tract/metabolism; antibiotics, cardiovascular, central nervous system, oncology, musculoskeletal and respiratory system
• OTC market (US$bn)/as % of total market (sales by analgesic, cough and cold, digestives, skin treatments, vitamins and minerals)
• Generics market (US$bn)/ as % of total market
• Health expenditure (US$bn, % of gdp and per capita); public sector health expenditure as % of total; number of hospitals; beds, hospital admissions, doctors, births and deaths per 000 population

Forecasts based on bespoke BMI economic modelling, using historical data sets of macroeconomic and industry variables to derive rigorous statistical relationships, anchored in advanced linear regression techniques.

BMI forecasts for all headline macroeconomic indicators, including:
Nominal and real GDP, % real GDP growth, % private consumption growth, % industrial output growth, % consumer price index, % GDP price deflator, exports, imports, trade balance, current account balance, foreign direct investment, exchange rate against US$, government expenditure, external debt

Intelligence on the market position of major MNC power houses and indigenous companies. BMI profiles key research-based companies. Company SWOTS are provided for all key strategic players, complete with a company activity overview, its leading products and analysis of business opportunities.

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