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Portugal’s pharmaceutical market was worth EUR3.58bn (US$5.05bn) in 2009, and drug market expenditure is likely to remain at a similar level in 2010. Portugal’s pharmaceutical market has experienced a considerable slowdown in growth in recent years, partly because of the market’s maturity and its demographic structure, but also because of downward pressure on Portugal’s economy caused by the global recession.
Portugal, like many European countries, has been forced to undertake austerity measures in order to calm markets, attract investment, and appease the European Union. Few aspects of Portugal’s economy have escaped these changes, and pharmaceuticals are no exception to this rule. From July 1, 2010, standard VAT rates were increased from 20 to 21% and the reduced rate applied to drugs was also raised, from 5 to 6%. The pharmaceutical industry has seen its margins squeezed with the introduction of a new range of price cuts for generic drugs – the degree to which prices are lowered depends upon the reference price for each therapeutic category – during Q310. Generic drugs now cost an average of 15% less than the original drugs and the government has forewarned that further reductions should be expected in 2011. One other measure obliges the manufacturers of new generic drugs to price their medicines at least 5% below the cheapest comparable generic drug already on the market. BMI observes that the Portuguese authorities have not addressed self-medication in this latest wave of cost cutting, as there is considerable room for additional Rx-to-OTC switches as a means of reducing reimbursement costs.
The pharmaceutical industry has accepted these price cuts reluctantly. It is already experiencing delays in payment for drugs delivered to Portuguese hospitals – industry association Apifarma estimates that firms have to wait on average 331 days before they receive payment. Apifarma not only announced that such waits were unacceptable, especially for smaller players that are more vulnerable when liquid assets are held up, but it also went as far as to suggest that the government should pay the pharmaceutical industry interest on its outstanding debts.
Changes to reimbursements have also been revealed, with the government announcing that pensioners in the lowest income bracket will be entitled to 100% reimbursement of the five cheapest drugs in each category. The Portuguese Generics Manufacturers’ Association, APOGEN, fears that these new rules will lead to drug shortages.
Price cuts and other austerity measures, as well as the impending patent cliff, mean that the pharmaceutical market has only limited growth potential in the short-to-medium term. BMI forecasts a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of -1.86% between 2009 and 2014 in local currency terms.


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