Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/a8887a/the_pharmaceutical) has announced the addition of the "The Pharmaceutical Market: Argentina" report to their offering.
In terms of size, the Argentine market is much smaller than Mexico and Brazil, but similar to Venezuela. The pharmacy sector, traditionally dominated by branded products, has showed an impressive double-digit growth in recent years but the growth rate is expected to slow down in the years to come, especially as real economic growth is projected to fall in 2009. The balance of pharmaceutical trade remains in deficit; local producers have a surplus, whist foreign producers have a significant deficit.
The pharmacy sector is characterised by high drug prices, excessive margins, high concentration levels and a lack of regulation. Pharmaceutical production, distribution and the market are dominated by the leading 20 pharmaceutical manufacturers. In comparison with other Latin American markets, local pharmaceutical production is strong and local producers lead the pharmacy sector. The leading company in the pharmacy sector by sales value is Roemmers, followed by Bagó. Both have strong manufacturing capabilities and are entering new export destinations in order to diminish their reliance on the local market.
Including internal demand, exports and imports, pharmaceutical sales were valued at 2.5 billion pesos (US$804.9 million) at manufacturers' prices between October and December 2008, which represented a rise of 23.4% in local terms over the same period in 2007. The central nervous system represented 17.0% of the total, followed by the alimentary tract & metabolism (16.4%) and the cardiovascular system (12.4%). Sales from Argentine producers represented 16.7% of the total, followed by Indian producers (14.2%) and German producers (9.2%). In 2008, annual sales rose by 26.8% in local terms, reaching 9.6 billion pesos (US$3.1 billion).
Annual domestic production amounted to 7.2 billion pesos (US$2.3 billion) in 2008. There are 110 manufacturing plants in Argentina, of which 93 are owned by local producers. The industry employs about 27,000 people directly. Over three quarters of the producers are located in the city and the province of Buenos Aires. In order to maximise their export opportunities, local producers are strengthening their manufacturing capabilities, increasing their export destinations and diversifying their product offering.