Berlin named Kingdom's sole distributor of Swiss firm Acino's generic drugs
Acino Pharma, a Switzerland-based manufacturer of specialised drugs, has signed a long-term partnership agreement with Berlin Pharmaceutical Industry, the second-largest drug producer and marketer in Thailand, as the sole distributor of a wide range of Ac
The deal is in line with the Swiss company's aim to capture the generic-drug market in the emerging economies, including Thailand. The market for generic drugs is expected to grow as a number of top-selling drugs now enjoying billions of US dollars in sales will lose their patents by 2013.
Acino Pharma and Berlin Pharmaceutical jointly announced their partnership agreement yesterday in Bangkok.
"By marketing and selling 16-17 new products made by Acino, we will bring in not only generic products to the Thai market, but also new technologies," said Amal Naj, chief executive |officer of Berlin Pharmaceutical Industry Co.
He said the whole landscape of the generic-drug market would be changed by 2015 when Asean would become more harmonised and the high competition would shake up the Thai market. Many generic drugs produced by companies that could offer much lower prices, especially in China and India, would also enter the market.
"If you just think about price, you should think twice. We [Acino Pharma and Berlin Pharmaceutical Industry] will offer quality pharmaceutical products, and we will be more competitive in the domestic market," Naj said.
Ruud van Anraat, chief commercial officer of Acino Pharma AG, said many multinational drug firms had turned their focus on to the generic-drug market. Though Acino is a mid-sized company, it makes very innovative products, he said.
According to various reports, when a drug's patent expires, it becomes available for any company to make and sell under a different name or simply by its chemical name in compliance with government regulations. This so-called off-patent segment is projected to grow from more than US$200 billion (Bt6 trillion) a year currently worldwide to about $500 billion in five years.
In the next three years, about 85 drugs with combined peak sales of nearly $100 billion will lose their patents. These medicines treat a wide spectrum of diseases - from infections to hypertension and high cholesterol to ulcers and pain and depression. The generic-drug market in Asia is expected to grow by more than $120 billion in the next 10 years from $50 billion currently, according to the reports.
Under Acino Pharma's business strategy in Asia, van Anraat said the company would sell the same products under the Acino brand with the same logo, packaging and quality as in other |markets.
He said sales of Acino outside the European Union were still as small as 1 million Swiss francs (Bt38 million), compared with total sales of 130 billion francs over the past 12 months.
Naj declined provide revenue projections. However, he revealed that sales growth in the domestic drug market had been flat over the past few years, mainly because of declining prices. Still, sales in Thailand are expected to grow by 10 per cent this year.
