Anti-infective sales prospects in Latin American markets

Argentina, Brazil and Mexico have some of the strongest economies inLatin America, and represent burgeoning areas for investment by the pharmaceutical industry, says a new report from Decision Resources. Similar in their health care systems, these countries' governments are undertaking bold initiatives to reform their health care delivery capacity and strengthen their pharmaceutical industries.

In particular, the study examines the capacity of these countries' health care systems to manage patients suffering from bacterial lower respiratory tract infections and hepatitis C virus, in the period to 2010.

While bacterial LRTIs are a considerable source of antibiotic sales in the three countries, it says, broader-spectrum agents in development offer activity against drug-resistant pathogens with a convenient dosing schedule and improved side-effect profiles. The most promising of these are Aventis' Ketek (telithromycin) and Abbott's ABT-778, both ketolides, and GlaxoSmithKline's fluoroquinolone Factive (gemifloxacin), which are expected to become available in these markets by 2002, 2004 and 2003, respectively.