India to boost pharma trade with Russia

India has decided to boost pharmaceutical trade with Russia along with other sector like energy, IT and communications, as part of the countries’ efforts of strengthen bilateral relations.

India and Russia have decided to take bilateral trade to a much higher level of USD 20 billion by 2015, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh stated underlining the importance two countries in sustaining global economic recovery.

Apart from pharma, energy, information technology and communications sectors as areas of mutual cooperation between the two countries as per the joint statement with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Singh.

“We have decided to set a trade target of USD 20 billion by 2015. We have identified energy, IT and communications and pharma as the new thrust areas for co-operation,” Prime Minister Singh has stated.

India exports tobacco, tea, coffee apart from medicines and imports fertilizers, electrical machinery and aircraft equipment.

The trade between India and Russia stood at USD 7 billion in 2008.

Several Indian pharma firms have successfully forayed the Russian market. A few of Indian pharma brands have also become highly popular in Russia.

Generic drug market in Central and Eastern Europe jumped to €17.2bn in 2008, accounting for around 58% of the pharmaceutical market in the region in terms of value, according to a new report by PMR Publications, a company providing market information, advice and services to international businesses interested in Central and Eastern European countries and other emerging markets.

Meanwhile the market value figure for innovative drugs stood at €12.4bn.

The CAGR for generics will reach as much as 14% between 2009 and 2011, whereas that of innovative drugs will be much lower.

“As a result, the share of generic drugs will constantly increase and in 2009 generics will account for around 60% of the pharmaceutical market in Central and Eastern Europe”, according to Agnieszka Stawarska, Pharmaceutical Market Analyst at PMR and a co-author of the report.

Although the innovative drug market in Central and Eastern Europe will develop at a slower rate than that of generic drugs between 2009 and 2011, the growth rate of original medicines for the whole region will be positive.

Growth in innovative drug market has been compromised by the cost-containment policies of the CEE countries, which have been stepped up during the global financial crisis.

However, in the medium term predictions are that there will be an improvement in health awareness and the modernisation of healthcare systems, including the development of private health insurance and the establishment of health insurance and drug reimbursement systems, similar to those in European countries, in Russia and Ukraine, to be drivers of the innovative drug market in the CEE countries, the report said.

An additional driver will be the aging of the population in the region.