Published on September 9, 2009 at 5:49 AM
Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/75b4e4/lithuania_pharmace) has announced the addition of the "Lithuania Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare Report Q3 2009" report to their offering.
The Lithuania Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare Report provides industry professionals and strategists, corporate analysts, pharmaceutical associations, government departments and regulatory bodies with independent forecasts and competitive intelligence on Lithuania's pharmaceuticals and healthcare industry.
Total drug market expenditure in Lithuania will be affected heavily by the depreciation in local currency against the US dollar. Pharmaceutical market spending will increase from LTL1.7bn (US$701mn) in 2008, to LTL2.0bn (US$593mn) by 2013, with a compound annual growth rate of 4.04% in local currency terms, and -3.28% in US dollar terms. As we note throughout our forecasts in this report, local currency values will highlight a growing market, while US dollar values indicate a contraction. This is solely due to unfavourable exchange rates and should be considered when assessing the market as a whole. We also add that growth in the drug market is likely to be modest, in line with our forecasts for other emerging Europe countries. Lithuania is supported by a relatively static population with low per capita spending. However, increases in expenditure can be attributed to widening access to medical services and improved health awareness boosting the OTC sector.
Lithuania's Ministry of Health is facing significant challenges relating to providing access to affordable medicines. With the state's fiscal situation looking tenuous and medicine value-added tax (VAT) hikes due to be implemented in July 2009, the State Medicines Agency (SAM) has implemented a programme for improving availability and price reduction - largely geared towards attaining price reductions from pharmaceutical manufacturers.
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