Turkish drug market to grow further
Reported March 20, 2009
ISTANBUL – The Turkish pharmaceuticals market is expected to grow as much as 12 percent in 2009 despite the economic crisis, the chief executive of Bayer’s Turkey unit said Wednesday.
Sebastian Guth told a news conference the pharmaceuticals sector was less vulnerable to the economic crisis than the auto, white goods and construction sectors and was set to grow by between 9 percent and 12 percent this year in Turkish lira terms.
Turkey has the sixth fastest-growing drug market in Europe and expanded 24 percent between 2001 and 2008 to $8.9 billion, reported Reuters. Government health coverage is boosting spending on drugs in Turkey despite a system of reference pricing which makes drug prices significantly lower than in the rest of Europe.
A number of Western drug makers such as GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer and Novartis compete with local companies in the Turkish market. Bayer’s own sales reached 235.9 million euros in Turkey in the first nine months of 2008 and the company expected per capita drug consumption to rise to $268 in 2012 from $165 in 2008.
Meanwhile, yesterday business daily Referans reported that the Turkish government was planning to implement an increase of 8 percent in the price of medicines in April. The increase, which will take effect the week after local elections on March 29, is designed to compensate pharmacists for a fall in the value of the lira against the euro.