Pharma market shows sales growth, workforce shortage, high demand for psychotropic agents in H1 – expert
The main trends in the Ukrainian pharmaceutical market from January to June 2024 were sales growth in hryvnia, a workforce shortage, and increased demand in the segment of antipsychotics, antidepressants, and sedatives, as well as the development of private labels by pharmacy chains, said regional director of the pharmaceutical company Acino, Yevhen Zaika.
Commenting on the development of the pharmaceutical market in the first half of 2024 to Interfax-Ukraine, he noted a sales growth of 19% in monetary terms, while the volume of sales in packages grew by only 3%.
According to Zaika, the main part of the growth in monetary terms is due to price increases. In particular, the share of expensive drugs in the first half of the year was 87.7% in monetary terms, but their share in physical terms was 52.4%.
Additionally, Zaika noted that in the first half of the year, the share of dietary supplements in the total market volume increased.
According to him, the cost of pharmaceutical production in January-June 2024 "significantly increased compared to the first half of 2023," which was due to increased personnel costs, prices for active pharmaceutical ingredients (API), and packaging materials.
Commenting on pharmaceutical production under conditions of shortage and power outages, Zaika noted that in 2021, the company invested $0.5 million in generators, allowing the plant to operate during power outages.
At the same time, he emphasized the constantly increasing cost of logistics "due to the lack of drivers."
Commenting on cooperation with distributors and pharmacy chains, Zaika said that "the consolidation of the pharmacy market continues, pharmacy chains are expanding their private label portfolios, which undoubtedly threatens the usual operation of the pharmaceutical market."
"We are working to ensure that our interaction is mutually beneficial for both parties, and most importantly, for our patients," he said.
Zaika forecasted that by the end of 2024, the growth of the Ukrainian pharmaceutical market could reach 18.6% in monetary terms and 2% in packages.
