Pharmaceutical sector in the new reimbursement era

Abstract

Pharmaceutical sector in the new reimbursement era The topics taken into consideration in this article concern the role of pharmaceutical sector in country's economy and the influence of factors limiting economic growth of the branch, mainly provisions of The Act on Reimbursement of Medicines, Foodstuffs Intended for Particular Nutritional Purposes and Medical Devices from 12<sup>th</sup> of May, 2011. New rules introduced by this Act, affecting the price evolution of the reimbursed products (i.e., official selling price, fixed wholesale and retail margins, retail margin calculated on the basis of wholesale price of the limit-determining product), had an impact on the increase of patient repayment level for the drugs, the decrease of NHF reimbursement and spending level, and the drop of the value of reimbursed drug market. Such a situation caused the increase of patient repayment level for the reimbursed drugs in many disease entities. In spite of many restrictions imposed by the mentioned Act, the perspectives of pharmaceutical market's growth in Poland are positive. In last few months, pharmaceutical sector has been prepared for the entry of new Reimbursement Act. More than 60% of requested pharmaceutical companies estimated positively current market situation in Poland. Among the surveyed ones, increasing sales numbers and improving financial results are indicated as the causes of such estimation (KPMG/PMR Report 2011). Every single pharmaceutical enterprise is the company undergoing the same rules as companies operating in other fields, which means the necessity of profit taking. During the analysis of the pharmaceutical market one can see some complexity and specificity, particularly due to the offered products and the sources of their funding, the level of regulation and the conservatism of the market itself which is one of the highest in the entire business. In spite of numerous limitations, most of enterprises realize the strategy of a continuous growth due to successful selling and marketing activities.