2010-03-08 20:11:48 - New Healthcare market report from Business Monitor International: "Taiwan Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare Report Q2 2010"

Taiwan's pharmaceutical market is the sixth largest in Asia Pacific, behind Australia and ahead of Thailand. Combined sales of prescription products and over-the-counter medicines reached US$3.58bn in 2008 - a 3.8% increase compared to the previous year. Drug spending accounts for 0.94% of GDP and annual per capita expenditure is US$156. Through to 2013, BMI is forecasting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3% for the overall pharmaceutical market. During late March 2009, the Executive Yuan disclosed a scheme to strengthen the expansion of the biotech industry in Taiwan. The country's government will contribute TWD10bn (US$322.58mn) initially to establish a TWD60bn (US$1.94bn) Biotechnology Venture Capital (BVC) fund. The government will have 40% stake and remaining 60% will be with

private investors. For the first time in 10 years, Taiwan was removed from the Special 301 Watch List in January 2009. The USTR said its decision was made in recognition of the Taiwanese government's efforts in protecting IPRs, including the establishment of an IPR court, the Ministry of Education's proactive measures in protecting IPR on campus and the progress in enforcing the amendment to the Copyright Act and the Internet Service Provider Act. Colorectal cancer has overtaken liver cancer as the most common malignant neoplasm in Taiwan, according to 2006 data released by the Department of Health in March 2009. A total of 10,248 cases were reported, which represented a 6.7% increase compared to the previous year. The prevalence of counterfeits in Taiwan is low compared to other Asian countries. In 2008, the Taiwan Medical Product Anti-Counterfeit Task Force (TMPACT) conducted a study of the pharmaceutical market by sending 501 surveys to pharmacies and 502 to the public. The investigation found that 8% of the surveyed pharmacists had counterfeit pills in their stores. As expected, the most frequently counterfeited medicines were best seller for lifestyle diseases, such as obesity. The leading medicine during 2008 in terms of sales was Norvasc (amlodipine), which posted revenue of US$133mn. Manufactured by Pfizer, the product is indicated for hypertension and angina, which are both growing problems in Taiwan. Diets increasingly contain more saturated fats and fewer vegetables. Sedentary lifestyles are becoming more common as the country's agricultural sector requires less manpower. Smoking and alcohol consumption are also popular.

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