Pharma products market exceeds 500 million euro

The laboratory equipment market alone is estimated to be worth an annual €120 million. In this segment, Ministry of Health decisions are extremely important and can lead to a doubling of the market. “The Ministry announced its plans to build 20 regional hospitals. The equipment alone for these hospitals is worth more than €1 billion, according to Claudiu Prisacaru, representative of medical equipment supplier Medicarom.

Prisacaru’s company posted net sales worth €28 million in 2006 and forecasts a 25-30 percent increase this year.

The Executive Director of the Medical Products Suppliers Association (AFPM), Alina Rosu, said imports make up more than 85 percent of the market. The association has 52 members, covering 80 percent of the market.

The health market includes laboratory and medical equipment, disinfectants and medical supplies, and medical services, such as medical centers and medical equipment leasing companies. For the time being, medical suppliers are made up of relatively small companies. The main suppliers are Medicarom, Novaintermed, Hartmann, Stryker Intermed, and Biosystem Diagnostics. However, there are Western and Central European-based companies preparing to enter , according to Alina Rosu. This is due to the fast pace of development in the Romanian health system, especially in the area of private health care.

However, medical suppliers also face problems on the Romanian market. “Hospitals put in orders, and then they do not pay.  Lack of financial discipline is our main problem. And if I do not deliver products which I know will not be paid on time, there are another five competitors who will,” Novaintermed representative Codrin Bernevig told Business Standard. According to Alina Rosu, the Health Ministry has to pay suppliers some RON 200 million (approximately €61.1 million) for equipment bought by hospitals in the 2004-2007 period.  Minister of Health Eugen Nicolaescu recently said that debts are to be paid at the next budget adjustment.

Some 90 percent of demand currently comes from state hospitals, but Novaintermed’s Bernevig estimates that 50 percent of the demand will come from the private sector in five and a half years.