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Trade with Greece
68
shows increased concentration in Attica and the
country's major urban centres: 32% of the enter-
prises are based in Attica, followed by Macedonia
(28%), while Epirus is last with 3.4%. Over time,
there has been a reduction in the number of com-
panies –from 160 in 2006 to 130 in 2009– which
is, nonetheless, still considered high for Greek
standards.
Other features of the sector's structure are the fol-
lowing:
● Concentration in the pharmaceuticals' market
is high, since the top-3 companies controlled
20% of the market in 2009, whole the top-10
companies controlled approximately 52%. Five
companies commanded market shares of
more than 5% (up to 6.5%): PFIZER HELLAS,
SANOFI- AVENTIS, NOVARTIS HELLAS,
VIANEX, ROCHE HELLAS.
● There is also strong concentration in the field
of pharmaceutical preparations. The top-10
(out of 438) companies accounted for almost
22% of the preparations that were sold in 2011.
VIANEX is on top, with 366 preparations, fol-
lowed by DEMO with 359 and ALAPIS with
335. In total, 37 companies distribute more
than 100 preparations each.
● The retail market (pharmacies) is based on a
widespread network that covers even the most
remote areas of the country. 38.3% of all phar-
macies are located in Attica and 13.2% in the
prefecture of Thessalonica.
According to ELSTAT data, almost 10,500 phar-
macies operated in Greece during 2009, of which
4,000 in Attica and 1,380 in the prefecture of
Thessalonica. The number of pharmacies has
increased in the past few years, since it was
slightly above 9,600 as late as 2006.
Greece's entry in the EMU, along with the huge
growth of pharmaceutical sales during the last
twenty years, led to the contraction of the local
industry's share in the domestic market. At the
same time, though, the sector became more
extrovert, while the manufacture of medicines
more than doubled in recent years.
The coverage of the domestic expenditure on
pharmaceuticals fell from 55.4% in 1990 to 30.9%
in 1999 and 17.6% in 2004. However, in the peri-
od 2003-2009 local manufacture more than dou-
bled (from 420 to 890 million euros). The SFEE
estimates that the local manufacture of medicines
exceeded one billion euros in 2009, and believes
that the data provided by ELSTAT are probably
understated, since not all companies participate
in the survey, while certain pharmaceutical prod-
ucts are classified under different codes.
According to data from the National Organization
for Medicines (EOF), the total turnover of the
Greek pharmaceuticals' market stood at 6.7 bil-
lion euros in 2010. 18% of this amount concerns
medicines administered by hospitals (hospital
prices), while 82% is distributed by pharmacies
and wholesalers (retail prices). Cardiology drugs
account for 17.7% of turnover, followed by anti-
cancer drugs with 16.3%, nervous system drugs
with 13.6%, anti-infection drugs with 10.9%, ali-
mentary canal drugs with 10%, haematological
drugs with 8.4%, respiratory system drugs with
8.3% etc.
The economic crisis and the measures for curtail-
ing health care costs that are being imposed by
the Memorandum and all subsequent interven-
tions of the Troika, have caused major problems
for the sector's companies, which are compound-
ed by the further aggravation of the hospital debt
problem, an “endemic” phenomenon in the phar-
maceuticals market.
In Spring 2010, almost 6,500 medicinal products
were re-priced with the aim of reducing public
pharmaceutical expenditure by approximately