Romanian drug producers own 15% of the entire market put at 2bn euros last year, a market ruled by importers.
Fighting giants such as Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline, Eli Lilly, Merck, Novartis and Roche, Romanian drug makers are coming up with portfolios of 100-200 products in areas such as the cardiovascular drugs, analgesics or antibiotics.
Total sales of Romanian products last year dropped by 8.9% from 2007, according to Cegedim Romania market research firm.
While most Romanian pharmaceutical factories have been acquired by major international firms, their portfolio still includes traditional brands, while others have started delivering to foreign markets where the parent company operates.
The biggest Romanian drug makers are Terapia Ranbaxy, Zentiva, Antibiotice, Actavis, Sandoz, Ozone Laboratories, LaborMed, Europharm, Gedeon Richter. Of these, only the first four are included in the ranking of the top 20 players in the industry.
While at the level of the entire market the best selling brands belong to importers, with the top ten raking sales of above 230m euros, Romanian producers are starting to make their presence felt from the 10th position downward. Thus, the top ten Romanian drug brands last year generated sales worth almost 65m euros, according to Cegedim Romania.
The best selling Romanian drug in 2008 was Algocalmin, with sales of above 13m euros. In 2005, when Zentiva bought Sicomed, the brand entered the top ten of the best selling products of the Czechs internationally.
The focus on OTC drugs is specific of all Romanian producers as they ensure higher profit margins.
Second in the ranking of sales of Romanian brands is Gemcitabina Sindan with 8.4m-euro revenues. Aspenter, produced by Terapia Ranbaxy, comes third in the ranking of drugs manufactured in Romania. The company is currently the biggest Romanian producer in terms of sales value.
Antibiotice, the 3rd biggest Romanian producer and the only state-owned one, accounts for more than 10% of the antibiotics market, but is also gaining ground on the market of cardiovascular drugs.
At the same time, a Romanian producer also present on foreign markets is Gedeon Richter Romania.
It remains to be seen which brands and producers will win the battle for market share and sales.
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