“We are expecting growth of less than 10 percent, similar to general growth estimated for the pharmaceutical market, after having posted growth in 2008 of 20 percent compared to 2007,” said Stanley Mendonca, General Manager of Pfizer Romania. The growth is estimated in lei. Mendonca indicated that in spite of an average 10 percent drop on the local market of prices of drugs produced internationally, due to new calculation methodologies of prices set by the Ministry of Health, the effect on Pfizer products is lower than the market average. Although company officials did not wish to make an estimate about a change in the hierarchy of top local pharmaceutical players, this impact could bring about significant changes in this classification. “As of April, I am expecting a new list of top pharma players, because the impact varies from one company to another,” said Franz Zinsberger, General Manager for Romania of Boehringer Ingelheim, adding that he expects his company’s position to improve. The two companies yesterday presented the results of a clinical study on the effectiveness of a Boehringer Ingelheim product for respiratory diseases, Spiriva, which is marketed internationally with Pfizer. Representatives of the two companies are expecting sales for this product to amount to €3.5 million in 2009, compared to €2.4 mln last year.
According to the Cegedim market research company, Pfizer reported turnover last year worth €100.4 mln in 2008, and claimed 6th place among top companies on the local market, after Hoffmann La Roche, Sanofi-Aventis, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis and Servier. Boehringer Ingelheim ended last year with net sales of €20.3 million. The Romanian pharmaceutical market is estimated to be worth €1.85 billion.
