¶ 8:54 AMNon-drugs Drive OTC Market GrowthPMR forecasts that the OTC market will record 5.5% year-on-year growth in 2006 mainly due to non-drugs, which have become the main growth factor of the OTC pharmacy market in Poland. In 2005 their sales grew by 33% year-on-year, while the total OTC pharmacy market increased by 8.2%. On the other hand, non-pharmacy sales are not contributing to OTC market growth as much as was anticipated just a few years ago.
(PRWEB) June 14, 2006 -- According to PMRs latest report, The OTC market in Poland 2006, the size of the overall OTC pharmacy market* in Poland in 2005 amounted to PLN 5.5bn (1.4bn) at retail prices, recording 8.2% year-on-year growth. It is the category of non-drugs which has become the most important driver of OTC pharmacy market growth. In 2005 the importance of this category continued to increase, accounting for about 25% of pharmacy sales by value Monika Stefanczyk, the author of the report, explained.
The OTC market is made up of two groups OTC drugs (products with the status of a drug), and non-drug OTC products such as dietary and food supplements, homeopathic drugs, herbals, cosmetics, diagnostic tests, dressings, medical devices, and dental equipment. The spectacular growth in the sales of these products is chiefly the effect of the opportunity offered by legal regulations for switching a product from OTC drug to dietary supplement status. As registration (which is in fact notification) and advertising is easier when a product has dietary supplement status, manufacturers have recently been trying to switch as many products as possible. As a result, dietary supplements accounted for about one-third of pharmacy sales of non-drugs by value and about one-tenth of overall OTC pharmacy sales in 2005, Ms Stefanczyk estimated. Whats more, the vast majority of manufacturers interviewed by PMR for the purpose of the report think that the trend of switching from OTC drug to dietary supplement status will continue in the nearest future.
VITAMINS AND MINERALS: FROM DRUGS TO DIETARY SUPPLEMENTS
The effects of OTC-dietary supplement switches were most noticeable in the vitamins and minerals OTC drug category. In 2005 the category recorded a 4.8% year-on-year decline in pharmacy sales. This did not result from decreasing demand for vitamins and minerals but a shift in the source of consumers intake of vitamins and minerals from drugs to dietary supplements and food products (such as yoghurts and energy drinks). As a result, in 2005 vitamins and minerals were third on the OTC drugs market in terms of sales while in 2002 they were the largest segment of OTC drug market (by value). In 2005 they accounted for nearly half of the dietary supplement segment of the pharmacy market.
SATURATION IN NON-PHARMACY SALES
While the non-drug pharmacy sector develops, non-pharmacy sales, which just several years ago had been expected to significantly increase total market growth, are slowly reaching saturation. In 2003 and 2004, the strategy of developing distribution via retail shops proved successful, and sales in non-pharmacy channels markedly increased (in the analgesics category in particular, non-pharmacy sales increased by over 30% year-on-year in 2003 and in 2004). This was also due to the introduction amendments to the relevant ordinance in 2003, which increased the number of medicines approved for sale in ordinary retail stores to 131. But greater sales in retail shops occurred at the expense of pharmacy sales, and as a result, the overall market size of analgesics as well as the total OTC market did not increase as much as was anticipated.
Between February 2005 and January 2006, non-pharmacy sales amounted to almost PLN 350m (87m), which accounted for 8.2% of the overall distribution of OTC drugs. This translates to almost 10.3% y-o-y growth, while in 2003 and 2004 y-o-y market growth oscillated around 30%. We believe that in 2006, year-on-year growth of the non-pharmacy OTC market will again be lower. At present, the Ministry of Health is preparing amendments to the aforementioned list under which fewer OTC drugs will be admitted for sale in ordinary retail outlets (114). On the other hand, this only relates to analgesics, which are widely accessible via non-pharmacy channels. Other categories with a presence in shop sales, such as cold and flu medicines or digestive remedies may still be important growth factors on condition that their accessibility is improved.
The main source of pharmacy sales data in the report was PharmaExpert.
About PMR:
PMR www.pmrcorporate.com is a publishing, consulting and market research company providing information, advice and services to international businesses interested in Central and Eastern Europe. With highly skilled staff, top ranked Web sites and over ten years of experience, PMR is one of the largest companies of its type in the region.
You are welcome to contact the author of the report:
Monika Stefanczyk
Pharmaceutical Market Analyst
Tel.: 0048 12 618 90 57
More information on the report:
Marketing Department:
Tel. 0048 12 618 90 20
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