OTC Healthcare in Iran
Euromonitor International's OTC Healthcare in Iran market report offers a comprehensive guide to the size and shape of the market at a national level. It provides the latest retail sales data, allowing you to identify the sectors driving growth. It identifies the leading companies, the leading brands and offers strategic analysis of key factors influencing the market - be they new product developments, packaging innovations, economic/lifestyle influences, distribution or pricing issues. Forecasts illustrate how the market is set to change.
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Tables: 11 | Publication date: Mar 2007
Why buy this report
- Get insight into trends in market performance
- Pinpoint growth sectors and identify factors driving change
- Identify market and brand leaders and understand the competitive environment
Product coverage
Adult mouthcare; Allergy care; Analgesics; Calming and sleeping products; Child-specific OTC healthcare; Cough; cold and allergy (hay fever) remedies; Digestive remedies; Ear care; Emergency contraception; Eye care; Medicated skin care; NRT Smoking cessation aids; OTC obesity; OTC statins; Vitamins and dietary supplements; Wound treatments
Executive summary
Domestic pharmaceutical companies under tight control
There are 60 pharmaceutical companies in Iran and most are active in the private sector or are common stock companies. In addition, a few are members of governmental institutions such as the Ministry of Health or the Ministry of Agriculture. Therefore, these companies have been established through private sector investment or they are members of common stock companies which offer their shares to other companies and individuals via the stock exchange.
Pharmaceutical companies have to adhere to global standards; the quality of medicines has to be confirmed by Iran’s Ministry of Health. If any medicine does not conform to national standards, it should not be sold to the public, and the government should remove such products from the marketplace immediately.
In addition, Iran’s Ministry of Health controls the specifications of all medicines. Most of the locally produced medicines are generic brands. At the end of the review period there were still very few research and development departments in pharmaceutical companies, due to strict rules controlled by the Ministry of Health and the government and the difficulties associated with registering any new medication. The pharmaceutical industry needs huge investment in the area of research and development.
Generics dominate the market
Since the Iranian Islamic revolution the government has been in control of the pharmaceutical industry in Iran. Around 95% of medicines in volume terms are produced locally. Even though at the end of the review period over 50 companies in the market were privatised, they still are not able to operate on a demand-supply basis and can only produce generic medicines. As a result the local consumer is offered what the government thinks is the most suitable and some OTC medicines are over-consumed as the consumer is forced to buy what is available in the market.
Self-medication dangerously high
Self-medication is a widespread phenomenon in Iran. The Ministry of Health in Iran announced that in 2005 over 8% of patients in hospital were admitted due to the side effects of medicines.
According to industry sources, every Iranian consumed an average of 341 medicines worth IRR136,202 in 2004. Most medical related costs are covered by insurance companies, but self-medication accounted for a large share of medical expenses. The medical community has also pointed out that Iranians are among the highest drug consumers in the world and often buy medicines that they do not use or use for the wrong purpose.
In the case of self-medication, there are worrying figures; one medical expert from the Shahre Kord University declared that 70% of elderly people take medicine daily in the city of Shahre Kord. These medicines are often cardiovascular medicines and 86% of old people take them without consulting a doctor. Moreover, following a study from the research department at the Medical Science University of Qom in January 2006, the consumption of medicines in Qom city is three times greater than the average consumption in Iran as a whole.
Illegal medicines concentrated in Tehran
Naser Khosro Street is located in southern Tehran and is well known as a place where anyone can obtain local and illegally imported OTC and Rx medication. According to the latest research commissioned by the government in 2005 more than 80% of these medicines are counterfeit, and less than 10% are genuine. The government is making huge efforts to deal with contraband and illegal medicines from Naser Khosro Street. The government is planning to destroy all buildings and stores in Naser Khosro Street to wipe out its contraband trade.
Table of contents
OTC HEALTHCARE IN IRAN : MARKET INSIGHT
1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
2. OPERATING ENVIRONMENT
2.1 OTC Registration and Classification
2.2 Vitamins & Dietary Supplements Registration and Classification
2.3 Advertising
2.4 Packaging and Labelling
2.5 Distribution
2.6 De-listing or De-reimbursement
2.7 Traditional Remedies
2.8 Homeopathy
2.9 Generics
2.10 Consumer Expenditure on Health Goods and Medical Services
2.11 Life Expectancy
Table 1 Life Expectancy at Birth 2000-2005
3. OTC HEALTHCARE SALES
3.1 Market Performance
Table 2 Retail Sales of OTC Healthcare by Sector: Value 2000-2005
Table 3 Retail Sales of OTC Healthcare by Sector: % Value Growth 2000-2005
3.2 Switches
3.3 Competitive Environment
Table 4 OTC Healthcare Company Shares by Retail Value 2001-2005
Table 5 OTC Healthcare Brand Shares by Retail Value 2002-2005
3.4 Darou Pakhsh Pharmaceutical MFG Co
Summary 1 Darou Pakhsh Pharmaceutical MFG Co Operational Indicators 2005
3.5 Rouz Darou Pharmaceutical Co
Summary 2 Rouz Darou Pharmaceutical Co Operational Indicators 2005
3.6 New Product Developments
3.7 Retail Distribution
Table 6 Retail Sales of OTC Healthcare by Distribution Format: % Analysis 2000/2005
Table 7 Retail Sales of OTC Healthcare by Sector and Distribution Format: % Analysis 2005
3.8 Retailer Activity and Private Label Trends
3.9 Forecast Market Performance
Table 8 Forecast Retail Sales of OTC Healthcare by Sector: Value 2005-2010
Table 9 Forecast Retail Sales of OTC Healthcare by Sector: % Value Growth 2005-2010
4. DEFINITIONS