Brazilians are vaulting into the middle class and increasingly choosing branded meds over generics--two reasons why the drug market there is growing at double-digit rates. That's the news from Datamonitor, which released a new report quantifying just why Brazil stands to attract more foreign drugmakers.
The retail drug market in Brazil hit $12.6 billion last year, Datamonitor analyst Mark Hollis reports, delivering a healthy 14.3 percent growth over 2008. And that growth is likely to continue, Hollis says, as the Brazilian government improves access to healthcare, the middle class grows, and patients choose brands over generics. "Brazil's many advantages will be tempting to Big Pharma," Hollis writes.
But the country has its disadvantages, too. Like many others, Brazil is under pressure to reduce healthcare costs, and its budget for government spending on drugs may be cut this year. To save money, the state may create incentives for people to opt for generics rather than brands. Plus, intellectual property protections aren't exactly fantastic, Hollis says.
- see the Datamonitor release
- read the story from PharmaTimes