Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/bbd2fd/australia_pharmace) has announced the addition of the "Australia Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare Report Q2 2010" report to their offering.
“Australia Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare Report Q2 2010”
Business Monitor International's Australia 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 Australia's pharmaceuticals and healthcare industry.
According to BMIs updated Pharmaceuticals Business Environment Ratings for Q210, Australia is the second most attractive market for investment in the Asia Pacific region, behind Japan. While its expanding and ageing population, excellent access to medicines and fast-recovering economy (among other factors) provide opportunities to multinationals, their entry and earnings potential is counteracted by the governments cost-containment measures, best illustrated by its efforts to keep the wide-ranging Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) drug subsidy programme affordable through price cuts and the use of generics.
Over the next 10 years, therefore, BMI forecasts that spending on pharmaceuticals including all prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) medicines will increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.16% in local currency terms. This represents only a modest performance from the current value of AUD10.07bn (US$7.93bn). Generics will be the strongest-growing segment, posting a CAGR of 6.86% through to 2019, boosted more by volumes than by values. At the same time, patented drugs a sub-sector already disadvantaged by intellectual property (IP) deficiencies and reimbursement practices are expected to lose market shares, falling from 71% in 2009 to under 68% of the total by 2014, and further to under 65% by 2019. In the meantime, Australian regulatory authorities are continuously improving services to patients, drugmakers and healthcare professionals, with the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) publishing more medicine information on its website. In a related development, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) authorised an amendment to the Medicines Australia Code of Conduct in December 2009, calling for companies to pay fines of up to AUD300,000 (US$277,800) if found to breach its terms.