New Market Report Now Available: Belgium Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare Report Q2 2011

April 24, 2011 - PRLog -- Out of a maximum 100, Belgium scored 64.5 in BMI's Q211 Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare Business Environment Ratings (BERs), placing it fifth in the Western Europe matrix. Emphasising its attractiveness as a pharmaceutical market globally, Belgium places tenth of the 83 markets surveyed in BMI's ever-expanding pharmaceutical universe.

Although growth in medicine sales is low, the country has a very large market in absolute terms and percapita spending is high. In 2010, expenditure on medicines in Belgium reached EUR4.65bn (US$5.97bn), a small market size compared with that of the UK and Italy, whose drug markets were valued at US$29.70bn and US$24.57bn respectively. However, in the same year, per-capita drug expenditure in Belgium reached US$552, comparing well with per-capita drug expenditure in the UK (US$477) and Italy (US$406).

Additionally, there is a sizeable pensionable population and regulations are transparent. According to BMI's Burden of Disease Database (BoDD), chronic diseases such as malignant neoplasms and neuropsychiatric conditions place a high burden on Belgium's healthcare services. In 2010, the number of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) lost to all diseases reached 1,146,774, with DALYs lost to noncommunicable diseases reaching 981,256 - 86% of the total burden.

As with other markets in Western Europe, high-value, innovative medicines account for the majority of Belgium's pharmaceutical market, with patented drugs accounting for 75.20% of the total at a value of EUR3.50bn (US$4.64bn) in 2010. Generic drugs accounted for 10.02% of the market at a value of EUR466mn (US$618mn) and over-the-counter (OTC) medicines accounted for 14.77%, at a value of EUR687mn (US$911mn).

The leading local companies in terms of market capitalisation are UCB (US$6.56bn) and Omega Pharma (US$1.25bn). A large number of foreign pharmaceutical firms are also already present on the Belgian market, including Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). In January 2011, Genzyme announced that it will build a manufacturing plant in Geel to aid growing production of its Pompe disease drug Lumizyme (alglucosidase alfa).

While Belgium is not a major hub for research and development (R&D) compared with some of its European neighbours, we believe the country is establishing itself as a centre for biotechnology. We note that expenditure on pharmaceutical R&D in Belgium as a percentage of that in Europe increased from 2.3% in 1990 to 7.0% in 2009, and further that employment in Belgium's R&D sector as a percentage of the European total increased from 2.4% in 1990 to 3.1% in 2009.

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Report Table of Contents:

SWOT Analysis
- Belgium Pharmaceuticals And Healthcare Industry SWOT
- Belgium Political SWOT
- Belgium Economic SWOT
Pharmaceutical Business Environment Ratings
- Table: Western Europe Pharmaceutical Business Environment Ratings, Q211
- Rewards
- Risks
Belgium - Market Summary
Regulatory Regime
- Table: Applications* Received and Processed by the AFMPS/FAGG
- Recent Regulatory Developments
- Intellectual Property Environment
- Pricing Regime
- Price Cuts
- Reimbursement Regime
- Recent Pricing And Reimbursement Developments
- Generic Medicines Sector
- OTC Medicines Sector
Industry Trends And Developments
- Epidemiology
- Recent Public Health Developments
- Healthcare Sector
- Healthcare Financing
- Healthcare Sector Developments
- Medical Tourism
- Research And Development Sector
- Clinical Trials
- Medical Device Market
Industry Forecast Scenario
- Overall Market Forecast
- Table: Pharmaceutical Sales Indicators 2007-2015
- Key Growth Factors - Industry
- Table: Health Expenditure Indicators 2007-2015
- Key Growth Factors - Macroeconomic
- Table: Belgium - Economic Activity
- Prescription Drug Market Forecast
- Table: Prescription Drug Sales Indicators 2007-2015
- Patented Drug Market Forecast
- Table: Patented Drug Sales Indicators 2007-2015
- Generic Drug Market Forecast
- Table: Generic Drug Sales Indicators 2007-2015
- OTC Medicine Market Forecast
- Table: OTC Medicine Sales Indicators 2007-2015
- Medical Device Market Forecast
- Table: Medical Device Sales Indicators 2007-2015
- Pharmaceutical Trade Forecast
- Table: Pharmaceutical Imports & Exports Indicators 2007-2015
- Other Healthcare Data Forecasts
- Key Risks To BMI's Forecasts
Competitive Landscape
- Pharmaceutical Industry
- Recent Company Developments
- Pharmaceutical Wholesale
- Pharmaceutical Retail
Company Monitor
- Leading Local Manufacturers
- UCB Pharma
- Solvay
- Janssen Pharmaceutica
- Omega Pharma
- Galapagos
- Leading Multinational Manufacturers
- GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)
- Pfizer
- Novartis
- Sanofi-Aventis
- Merck & Co
Country Snapshot: Belgium Demographic Data
- Section 1: Population
- Table: Demographic Indicators, 2005-2030
- Table: Rural/Urban Breakdown, 2005-2030
- Section 2: Education And Healthcare
- Table: Education, 2002-2005
- Table: Vital Statistics, 2005-2030
- Section 3: Labour Market And Spending Power
- Table: Employment Indicators, 2001-2006
- Table: Consumer Expenditure, 2000-2012 (US$)
- Table: Average Annual Wages, 2000-2012
BMI Methodology
- How We Generate Our Pharmaceutical Industry Forecasts
Pharmaceuticals Business Environment Ratings
- Risk/Reward Ratings Methodology
- Ratings Overview
- Table: Pharmaceutical Business Environment Indicators
- Weighting
- Table: Weighting Of Components
- Sources

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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.