French Drug Exports Up 18% In 1995

France's drug industry association, the SNIP, reports that its members' exports of drug specialties in 1995 rose 18% to 25 billion French francs ($4.8 billion), with the commercial balance topping 10 billion francs. Exports to emerging central and eastern European countries, and to Asia and the USA, rose 22%.

Overall drug consumption picked up, after domestic growth in 1994 of only 2.6% and a 10.5% rise in exports. Consumption remained tightly constrained by government reform policies, although pressure on the drug sector was less intense than in 1993-94. The SNIP also says prescribing guidelines had a markedly reduced impact last year; the first phase of the guidelines was introduced in January 1994.

French View Euro P-I Decision Meantime, the SNIP says the European Commission's rejection of requests for safeguards from 10 European Union member states following the opening of the EU market to Spanish drug imports (Marketletter May 13) is "seen as a very negative signal by the drug industry."