Page 34 - THE ROMANIAN HEALTH CARE

At third place in the Romanian imports from the Netherlands are pharmaceutical products

with a share of 10.6% and a value of EUR 319.0m. All medical goods combined have a share in

Romanian imports of 12.5% and a value of 378.2m euro.

Data on the exact size of the healthcare markets are not available. But reasonable estimates

can be made by adding up the turnover of the larger companies in a specific category. For

example the combined turnover of the 10 largest pharmaceutical distributing companies are

an indication of the market size. Downside of this method is that not all companies are

included, it excludes direct sales by domestic producers and foreign companies, also possible

exports by distributors are not accounted for. Some cross contamination cannot be avoided,

e.g. production companies that also run distribution and retail. A total market estimate

cannot be given by using this method, but they are the best available data. For the year 2017

a figure of EUR 10.7bn was reported for the total pharmaceutical sector – including

production, distribution and retail – actual drug sales are lower , see next paragraph.
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5.2.2 Pharmaceutical products distribution

The market for pharmaceutical products is underdeveloped compared to western markets.

The largest 10 distributors had a combined turnover of 3.2bn euro in 2017 (see Annex D:

Pharmaceutical distributors). Substantial sales and growth have been reported. A recent

estimate reported a drug sales of 3.15bn euro in the year covering Q1 2017 to Q1 2018, an

11.8% compared to the same period a year earlier. The largest segment are
increase of

prescription drugs sales of 2.1bn euro, OTC sales were 686m euro and sales to hospitals

15

totalled 368m euro . It was also reported that the pharmaceutical market grew by 17% in the

16

first quarter of 2018, compared to the same period in 2017 . The largest medicine

distributors in
2017 were:

1. Mediplus Exim, Mogosoaia, turnover: 834.4m

2. Farmexpert, Bucharest, turnover: 634.1m

3. Fildas Trading, Bucharest, turnover: 571.4m

4. Farmexim, Comuna Balotești, turnover: 421.8m

5. Sanofi, Bucharest, turnover: 236.3m

Turnover of

tenth largest distributor in Annex D Pharma is 25.5m euro. The size of the

pharmaceutical distributors is large compared to other companies in the healthcare sector

(see the next paragraphs) and also compared to the wider Romanian economy. Mediplus

Exim part of the medical conglomerate A&D Pharma Holding. Some other companies in this

is

holding are Sensiblu pharmacies and A&D Pharma Marketing & Sales Services. Foreign

ownership these companies is quite common Farmexpert is part the Walgreens Boots

of

14 https://www.romania-insider.com/romania-pharmaceutical-market-2018
15 https://www.romania-insider.com/pharmaceutical-market-q1-2018
16 https://www.romania-insider.com/pharmaceutical-market-q1-2018
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