Brazil Generics Sales Double in Three Years

Local studies indicate that Brazilian generics sales have doubled between 2001 and 2004, and now account for some 10 percent of total pharmaceuticals sales, with market share reaching more than 20 percent in low-income areas. Annual sales have reached roughly 123mn units, with the market now estimated conservatively at some US$1.1bn per year.

Regulations authorising the introduction of generics have only been in force in Brazil since 2000, and much of the growth has been linked to changes in prescribing patterns. More newly qualified doctors tend to prescribe greater amounts of generics, and prescription slips do not discriminate between branded and generic drugs unless specified. Public awareness of generic alternatives is clearly growing, as consumers become accustomed to markings on packets of approved generics, which carry a yellow strip and a letter G. However, it should be noted that such markings, while establishing distinctions between generics and innovative products, are unlikely to have deterred sophisticated producers of copy or counterfeit medicines.

Meanwhile, Brazilian generics producers' association Pró Genéricos has warned that recent government moves to reform dispensing, which would allow drug packets to be split and their contents re-sold, risk encouraging sales of such illicit products. In a letter to the country's president signed jointly with pharmacy groups, the association warns that such repackaging constitutes a severe risk to consumers. The multinational sector is only likely to agree with the association's claim.