Colombian pharma market to see strong market growth: report

The pharmaceutical market in Colombia is set to rise from $5 billion in 2015 to $7.1 billion by 2020, registering a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.3%, a new study indicates.

According to research and consulting firm GlobalData’s latest report, this substantial rise can be attributed to increased drug consumption, caused by a rising disease burden, and government initiatives in the public healthcare sector. In addition, Colombia is fast becoming a hub for clinical trial research, due to low costs, and there has been a sharp increase in the number of clinical trials undertaken in recent years. At present, the five leading pharmaceutical companies in Colombia are Tecnoquimicas, Pfizer (NYSE: PFE), Merck & Co (NYSE: MRK), Roche (ROG: SIX) and Procaps.

Officials of various multinational companies agree that Colombia has become an important center for clinical trials in Latin America, and has started to receive clinical trials that would otherwise have been sent to Argentina or Mexico. The increase in clinical trials can be attributed primarily to highly-trained biomedical researchers and significantly lower costs.