Distribution on the pharmaceutical market in Poland 2011: in wait for the Reimbursement Act - April 2011

According to our latest report entitled “Distribution on the pharmaceutical market in Poland 2011. Development forecasts for 2011-2013” 2010 was a year changes for pharmaceutical wholesalers and pharmacies. Business diversification by pharmaceutical wholesalers was a prevailing trend in the wholesale pharmaceutical sector. Concurrently, the number of pharmacies stopped falling and more and more stores joined pharmacy chains, pharmacy purchasing groups and loyalty programmes. All market participants are getting ready to face a new market reality following the coming into force of the Reimbursement Act.

Medicine sales, which is the core business of wholesalers, usually carries low margins, hence wholesalers increasingly expand into new business areas. For instance, in 2010 Neuca and ACP Pharma launched shared services centres which currently provide services to the members of their respective groups, but they will render accounting and financial services to external parties in the future.