Spain's pharma market to decline, says BMI; Datamonitor views impact of drug price cuts

Two separate reports on the Spanish pharmaceutical industry were released this week, one from Business Monitor International and the other from Datamonitor, which review the prospects for the sector in Spain.

Spain is ranked eighth, of the 10 countries surveyed in the Western European region in BMI’s Business Environment Ratings (BER) for first-quarter 2011. The country has improved its position by one place and now ranks above both Italy and Portugal. However, while Spain offers positives for investors, such as its large drug market, it also holds various downsides, such as low population growth, cumbersome bureaucracy, provincial differences regarding drug regulation and reimbursement, and modest forecast market expansion due to cost-containment measures.

Globally, Spain's pharmaceutical market is rated 19th, having previously been 20th, out of the total of 83 countries surveyed by BMI. In the coming quarters, the wide ranging price reductions and patent expirations will conspire to keep Spain towards the bottom of the regional BER matrix.