Generic drug sales in Brazil leapt 53% in 2010; double-digit growth forecast the next two years

In Brazil, sales last year of generic drugs - which are nearly identical reproductions of off-patent medications and are distributed without patent protection - increased 53% from the previous year, to around $3.5 billion, according to Pro Genericos, a domestic trade group representing 95 generic drugmakers.

Overall, Brazil sold more than 330 million units in 2010, up from roughly 233 million units of generic drugs in 2007, according to a recent report on www.knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu - the online research and business analysis journal of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania

But there's still plenty of untapped potential, as less than 25% of the drugs sold in Brazil are generic drugs, compared with around 50% in the USA and 45% in the European Union, says the trade group. It is, however, by far the largest generic drug market in Latin America, and RNCOS, an industry research firm, forecasts that Brazil's 4.5 billion reals ($2.7 billion) generic drug market will post a compound annual growth rate of 19% over the next two years.