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ivx unter 15$ mal schaun, nächster markanter Widerstand um 12$ French Generics Market To Double By 2005 - Industry Execs DOW JONES NEWSWIRES PARIS -- France`s nascent generic drugs market is poised to take off by 2005 after a number of important drug patents expire, executives from generic drugs maker Biogaran said Thursday. Revenue from generic drugs in France will double to EUR4.4 billion in 2005 from EUR2.2 billion in 2001, they said. With generic drugs attracting more attention in the lead up to French elections this month, as state officials grapple with ways to cut rising health care costs, large drug makers are catching on to the opportunity. On Thursday, Israel`s Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (TEVA), the world`s third-largest generic drugs maker, bought the French generics activities of Germany`s Bayer AG (BAY). On Tuesday, the U.S.`s Ivax Corp. (IVX), the world`s fifth-largest generic drugs maker, acquired Merck & Co. Inc.`s (MRK) French generics subsidiary MSD. France lags much of Europe and the U.S. when it comes to non-branded pharmaceuticals. The country only permitted generic substitution in 1999, encouraging pharmacists in the highly regulated industry to offer cheaper generic substitutes by granting them larger profit margins. Just 3% of all medicines sold in France are non-branded, compared with 25% in Germany, where pro-generics laws were passed more than 15 years ago. Still, generic drugs are starting to cannibalize French sales of branded medicines. For example, just months after the patent for Prozac expired, the generic version of the drug has captured a quarter of all sales, Biogaran sales and marketing director Eric Roche said. Helped by this trend, Biogaran - the four-year-old unit of private French pharmaceuticals company Servier - saw its 2001 revenue rise 86% to EUR63 million. The company expects profits to be boosted further by the launch in 2002 of generic alternatives to Augmentin, Prozac, Utrogestan and Sotalex. French patent protection for a number of other drugs - including Alfatil, Ciflox, Zestril and Zelcar - will expire between now and 2005, Biogaran executives added. Today, Biogaran has around 20% of the French generic drugs market, trailing only Merck Generiques` 26% slice. Other big players include the generic arms of Aventis (AVE), Novartis (NVS), and Bayer, as well as Sanofi-Synthelabo`s (F.SAN) Irex unit, which each have between 9% and 13%. All figures are from market research firm IMS-Health and French trade association GERS. Company Web site: http://www.biogaran.fr -By Carolyn Whelan, Dow Jones Newswires; 331-4017-1740; carolyn.whelan@dowjones.com |
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| aus der Diskussion: | generics |
| Autor (Datum des Eintrages): | southbound (04.04.02 20:11:32) |
| Beitrag: | 64 von 125 (ID:6006461) |
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