News

Examine Thailand's Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare Industry with this Comprehensive Report Q3 2008

DUBLIN, Ireland-(Business Wire)-October 3, 2008 - Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/32f8ba/thailand_pharmaceu) has announced the addition of the "Thailand Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare Report Q3 2008" report to their offering.

BMI's Thailand Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare Report provides independent forecasts and competitive intelligence on Thailand's pharmaceuticals and healthcare industry.

Contrary to our statements last quarter, it now appears that Thailand is once again pursuing compulsory licenses on patented drugs, which will limit investment by multinationals, due to decreased sales. The government bowed to pressure from patient groups and consumer organisations. International trade sanctions are now a distinct possibility in BMI’s opinion. Accordingly, we will closely monitor forecasts for Thailand’s US$3.5bn pharmaceutical market.

Demonstrating the emergence of chronic diseases in the Asian country, it was announced in July 2008 that community healthcare centres will be opened around Bangkok to help elderly people suffering from illnesses that require regular treatment, such as dementia, diabetes and hypertension.

The Thai subsidiary of Swiss drugmaker Novartis recorded 2007 sales of US$106mn, which was a healthy 20% increase on the previous year. However, due to a weakening economy and political uncertainty, the company expects to see only 15% growth in 2008.

Thailand's US$700mn medical device market will receive a boost if an experimental nevirapine kit is manufactured in the country. The diagnostic is under development in Japan and will be able to warn a HIV/AIDS patient if they are allergic to the antiretroviral. Because the product has been designed for the local highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) cocktail, sales in Thailand are likely to be significant. However, BMI believes the bulk of revenue will come from other developing countries, many of which are increasingly seeing the benefit of reducing the burden of HIV/AIDS through widespread diagnosis and treatment.

In an effort to improve productivity and ultimately benefit patients, Thailand's Public Health Minister, Chaiya Sasomsab, announced that he wanted to appoint a representative from the commercial pharmaceutical industry to the board of the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation (GPO). He first disclosed his plan at the annual conference of the Pharmaceutical Association of Thailand in late April 2008, when he also expressed concern over the quality of the drug production process at the state enterprise. However, health officials and patient groups rejected the nomination of Teera Chakajnarodom, the President of PReMA, to the 15-member board.

Key Topics Covered:

"Executive Summary

Thailand Pharmaceutical And Healthcare Industry SWOT

Thailand Political SWOT

Thailand Economic SWOT

Thailand Business Environment SWOT

Pharmaceutical Business Environment Ratings

Limits Of Potential Returns

Risks To Realisation Of Returns

Thailand – Market Summary

Regulatory Regime

Intellectual Property Regime