Negative trend in sales of hypertension medicines in Poland to bottom out only in 2011

2010-08-24

Sales of hypertension drugs in Poland will fall for the fifth consecutive year in 2010, before stabilising and showing a slight increase in 2011, according to estimates by the Countrywide Healthcare Information System (OSOZ).
In value terms, sales of hypertension medicines plunged by 18% over the four years to 2009, from PLN 178m (€44.6m) in 2006 to PLN 146m (€36.6m) last year. This was partly due to a 10% decline in average prices during this period. Even so, in volume terms sales of this category of products still dropped by 9.2% over 2006-2009, to 5.315 million units from a peak of 5.85 million four years ago. One contributor were larger average package sizes. Nevertheless, OSOZ analysts describe the decline – which coincided with a 23% increase in the overall value of pharmacy sales - as “puzzling”, also given the chronic nature of the condition.
For 2010, OSOZ is forecasting a further drop in sales value, volume, and average prices. In 2011, it predicts slight increases in market value and unit sales, despite a continuation of the downward trend in average prices.