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International Drug Distributors Import From Romania On Price Freeze

International drug distributors took advantage of the recent drug price freeze and the depreciation of the Romanian leu against the euro to buy pharmaceutical products from Romania at low prices and resell them on their main markets.
International Drug Distributors Import From Romania On Price Freeze
11 feb. 2009, 13:28, English

Romania’s National Medicines Agency ANM received “parallel distribution” notifications for 83 pharmaceutical products.

"Romania has the lowest drug prices in the European Union and drugs are products that circulate without restrictions, in small volumes at high prices. The parallel import of drugs is profitable for international distributors, even with jeopardizing Romania’s drug stocks," Dan Zaharescu, the executive manager of the Romanian Association of Producers and Importers of Drugs ARPIM, said Wednesday.

According to him, if the phenomenon amplifies, Romania might find itself in the same situation as Greece, where the parallel import of drugs accounted for one third of the local medicine market a few years ago.

In 2008, the authorities in the EU member states sent ANM several notifications for the export of 83 drugs, double compared with 2007, when Romania received notifications for 43 products.

Most of the notifications came from the authorities in the UK and Germany, and a few from Finland and Sweden.

Generally, distributors buy from Romania drugs produced by important drugmakers, with businesses worldwide. Thus, according to ANM, GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer, Astellas, Roche, Abbott, MSD, AstraZeneca, Schering, Merck, Servier, Bayer and Bracco are among the producers whose drugs are bought by foreign distributors.

Dan Zamonea, the general manager of the Romanian branch of Swiss drug producer Roche, explained that the depreciation of the Romanian leu and the freeze in drug prices made the local market more attractive for the parallel import of medicine.

"In our case, the current difference between the real and the official price is of 22%," he added.

Roche group has been activating on the Romanian market for over ten years, selling over 35 products. In 2008, Roche Romania reported sales of around EUR116 million.

According to research company IMS Health Romania, the total sales of drugs on the local market rose 16.9% between October 2007 and September 2008, to EUR2 billion, compared with the previous reference period, when the market’s profit totalized around EUR1.7 billion.