Abstract
BMI calculates Argentina’s pharmaceutical expenditure to have been
ARS11.56bn (US$3.73bn) in 2008.
By 2013, we expect the total amount spent
on prescription and OTC medicines to have reached a value of
ARS26.62bn
(US$4.23bn) equating to a compound annual growth rate of 17.8%. In US dollar
terms,
however, as a result of the weakening peso, drug market expenditure
will fall sharply from US$3.73bn in
2008 to US$3.37bn in 2009. This will
affect all the subsequent forecasts in this report. In BMI’s
Business
Environment Rankings for Q409, Argentina is ranked in 7th place
in the America’s region. Globally,
Argentina is ranked in 31st
position, above Russia and Qatar and just behind Turkey and Colombia.
Argentina is present on the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of
America (PhRMA)' s Special
301 Submission (2009) Priority Watch List owing
to the lack of protection of undisclosed test data and
other information,
in a manner that is inconsistent with its obligations under the World
Trade
Organization (WTO)' s Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property
Rights (TRIPS) agreement.
Argentina' s reliance on data submitted by
originators to approve marketing requests by competitors for
similar
products – following the approval of the product associated with the
original submitted data – is
viewed negatively. The report also
criticises the absence of any link between the patent system and the
procedures for approving the marketing of pharmaceutical products, including
non-patented medicines.
In April 2009, the College of Pharmacists in
Argentina called for the government to change legislation
regarding the
sale of over-the-counter (OTC) medicines in the country. The sale of OTC
medicines in
establishments other than pharmacies was authorised in 1991
by Decree 2284. It was argued that
medicines sold on pavements had not
been stored in adequate conditions, as they would have been
exposed to
sunlight. Furthermore, it was revealed that although the Administration of
Medicines, Food
and Technology regulates all medicines, it does not have
any jurisdiction to inspect medicines sold in
street kiosks. It is
therefore believed that some of the drugs sold outside pharmacies are
counterfeit, and
that the reduced regulation regarding OTC medicine sales
has led to the sale of prescription medicines
outside pharmacies.
The
current swine flu outbreak has hit Argentina hard and BMI believes that if the
situation gets worse,
the social and economic impact will be immense,
leading to a contraction in the country’s GDP. While
certain
drugmakers and medical device manufacturers will profit, all other
pharmaceutical companies will
see sales decline sharply. Both government
and consumer spending will contract, resulting in reduced
demand for both
prescription and over-the-counter medicines.
| 
View Cart
