In 2012, the French pharmaceutical market fell by 1.5%. Sales to offcines by pharmaceutical companies, for their part, fell by -2.8%.
The French are among the greatest adepts of drugs, they still consume 48 boxes of them per year, or more than 3 billion in all! This is the observation made by the Medicines Safety Agency (Ansm) in its latest report on the analysis of drug sales in France in 2012. However, the state of the French pharmaceutical market is changing. After having slowed down in recent years, it is now declining.
In fact, the total amount of drug sales fell in France in 2012 by -1.5%. However, this figure covers very different situations. While sales by pharmaceutical companies to the pharmacy market decreased in 2012 (- 2.8%), those intended for hospitals increased (+ 3%).
In addition, another sector seems to be resisting this drug crisis, that of generics. This market, which was in decline in 2011, grew again in 2012. “The measures adopted in early summer 2012 to promote generic substitution have greatly contributed to this recovery,” says Ansm.
In addition, the supply of drugs is very diversified in France. 2,800 active substances different products were marketed there in 2012. They correspond to 11,000 specialties. As regards the most attractive drugs on the market, in town, these are dry oral forms (mainly tablets and capsules) which are quantitatively the most sold (more than two-thirds of the market) while in hospitals, the injectable forms are the most used (nearly two-thirds of the market).
In terms of quantities sold on the market, analgesics are the best-selling products, followed by psychotropic drugs and antibiotics. This latter finding is not surprising, however, because a report published on June 17 by the Ansm already noted that the consumption of antibiotics by the French was again on the increase and this for several years. In the end, the French market is still around € 27.2 billion.
Finally, the French are still not very fond of self-medication because the market for non-reimbursable specialties represents 9% of sales in value and 15% in quantities. It should be noted, however, that it is on the rise, this is partly explained by the delisting of 150 presentations in 2012.
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