Market Report, "Estonia Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare Report Q4 2010", published

Aug. 27, 2010 - PRLog -- Estonia's attractiveness to pharmaceutical companies has improved in recent months, as can be seen in BMI's regional Pharmaceutical & Healthcare Business Environment Ratings (BER) for Q410. Estonia's BER score increased by 3.4% to 52.0 between Q310 and Q410, though it is still slightly below the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) average of 52.1. However, Estonia's score improved faster than the regional average, which increased by 2.2% over the same period.

The inescapable weakness for Estonia's pharmaceutical and healthcare market is the size of the country. In 2009, the pharmaceutical market was EEK3.54bn (US$315mn), equivalent to just 1.75% of the Russian drug market (US$18.81bn) and 0.6% of Germany's market (US$54.9bn).

Regardless of its size, Estonia's per-capita spending is relatively high for the region. In 2009, this stood at US$235 per person, considerably higher than the two other Baltic states and more than twice that of Russia (US$109). This highlights some room for premium priced medicine as well as indicating the already advanced level of healthcare in the country.

While Estonia's GDP contracted in both 2008 and 2009, the pharmaceutical industry appeared largely resilient to the economic downturn. In local currency terms, growth in the drug market continued, with 14.1% year-onyear (y-o-y) growth for 2007-2008 and 1.8% for 2008-2009. Growth is expected to improve in 2010, with BMI forecasts a 5.0% increase. Over the next 5-10 years, market growth is expected to remain around this level, with the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for 2009-2019 at 5.3%. Estonia's recession of 2008 and 2009 is now expected to be over. BMI's macroeconomic forecast predicts a moderate return to GDP growth for 2010 of 0.2%, and low single-figure growth over the next five years. Notably, GDP is forecast to grow more slowly than drug market expenditure over this period.

The EU finance ministers' approval of Estonia joining the eurozone on January 01 2011 will make it the only Baltic state to adopt the currency. The decision to maintain its currency peg and accelerate eurozone accession following the global financial crisis is also likely to mean a more protracted macroeconomic recovery. However, the changeover is not expected t have a significant or immediate effect on the price of pharmaceutical imports.

Following a reduction in the collected revenue of Estonia's Health Insurance Fund (HIF), the budget for 2010 was cut by 6%. This is a direct result of the country's poorer economic performance. In 2009, the share of social tax allocated to health insurance fell by 10.1% to EEK12.5bn (US$1,031mn) and a further drop of 9% is expected in 2010.

The HIF aims to continue the consistency between health insurance expenditure and the social tax revenue. Other than 2009, the HIF has retained a budget surplus since its creation in 2001. Because of the link between the HIF expenditure and the social tax contributions, Estonia's total healthcare expenditure remains more closely linked with its macroeconomic performance than other European countries.

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Partial Table of Contents:

Executive Summary
SWOT Analysis
- Estonia Pharmaceuticals And Healthcare Industry SWOT
- Estonia Political SWOT
- Estonia Economic SWOT
- Estonia Business Environment SWOT
Pharmaceutical Business Environment Ratings
- Table: Emerging Europe - Regional Pharmaceuticals Business Environment Ratings, Q410
- Rewards
- Risks
Estonia - Market Summary
Regulatory Regime
- Intellectual Property Regime
- Parallel Importing
- Pricing Regime
- Reimbursement Regime
- Table: Pharmaceuticals Reimbursed to the Insured (EEK '000)
Industry Developments
- Epidemiology
- Table: Disease Burden In Central and Eastern Europe (CEE)
- Healthcare Sector
- Healthcare Reforms
- Healthcare Provision
- Healthcare Funding
- Table: Main Indicators of HIF's Finances
- Healthcare Insurance
- Table: Diagnoses with the Highest Expenditure of Benefits of Medicinal Products
- Table: Pharmacies And Pharmacy Market Ratios, 2004-2009
- Clinical Trials
- Medical Devices
Industry Forecast Scenario
- Overall Market Forecast
- Key Growth Factors - Industry
- Key Growth Factors - Macroeconomic
- Table: Estonia - Economic Activity
- Prescription Drug Market Forecast
- Patented Drug Market Forecast
- Generic Drug Market Forecast
- OTC Medicine Market Forecast
- Pharmaceutical Trade Forecast
- Other Healthcare Data Forecasts
- Key Risks To BMI's Forecast Scenario
Competitive Landscape
- Pharmaceutical Industry
- Pharmaceutical Manufacturing
- Company Developments
- Biotechnology
- Pharmaceutical Wholesale
- Retail Pharmacies
Company Monitor
- GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)
- Pfizer
- Novartis
- Sanofi-Aventis
- Merck & Co
- Grindeks (includes Tallinn Pharmaceutical Plant)
Country Snapshot: Estonia Demographic Data
- Section 1: Population
- Table: Demographic Indicators, 2005-2030
- Table: Rural/Urban Breakdown, 2005-2030
- Section 2: Education And Healthcare
- Table: Education, 2002-2004
- Table: Vital Statistics, 2005-2030
- Section 3: Labour Market And Spending Power
- Table: Consumer Expenditure, 2000-2012 (US$)
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Full Table of Contents is available at:
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Fast Market Research is an online aggregator and distributor of market research and business information. We represent the world's top research publishers and analysts and provide quick and easy access to the best competitive intelligence available.