2009-01-10 21:28:01 -

Research and Markets (www.researchandmarkets.com/research/f87b75/italy_pharmaceutic) has announced the addition of the "Italy Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare Report Q4 2008" report to their offering.


The poor performance in the Italian market looks set to continue over the forecast period. Following low growth in 2005 and 2006, the market posted a decline in 2007. Between 2007 and 2012 the compound annual growth

rate (CAGR) should be just 1.85% in local currency terms, with the market reaching a value of EUR25.1bn (US$32.2bn). The first six months of 2008 seem to support this pessimistic prognosis, with market expenditure by the Italian National Health Service - the Servicio Sanitario Nazionale (SSN) - falling by 1.4% (year-on-year).


From 2006, the state has made a concerted effort to decrease prices through initiatives including increasing generic penetration, the introduction of new reference pricing and across-the-board price cuts. This had a significant impact on spending in 2007, the effects of which are being carried through into 2008 with average price reductions of 6.9% y-o-y per pack in the first half.


As a result, most of Italy's major pharmaceutical players have been looking to foreign markets to drive growth. In H108, Recordati saw sales on the domestic front fall 2.4%, which the company attributed to negative price effects. Sales on foreign markets, however, increased by 13.3% y-o-y and now account for close to 70% of total pharmaceutical sales.


Meanwhile, Italy has climbed off of the bottom of BMI's business environment rankings for Q408, although that was mainly due to the deteriorating business environment rankings of Spain, which now props up the table. Italy hasn't been helped by recent allegations of corruption at the Italian medicine agency AIFA. Director general Nell Martini has been suspended following a two-year investigation into the approval and subsequent granting of licences for a number of drugs.


Companies Mentioned:


- GlaxoSmithKline
- Merck & Co
- Novartis
- Pfizer
- Recordati
- Sanofi-Aventis
For more information visit www.researchandmarkets.com/research/f87b75/italy_pharmaceutic





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