French Drug Industry Sales Advanced 8.7% In 1993

The French drug industry's sales of drug specialties increased 8.7% in 1993 to 96 billion French francs ($17.8 billion), including exports of 17.5 billion francs ($3.2 billion).

Provisional figures for early 1994 show that in contrast growth now is barely positive, due to health care cost controls, fewer major product launches and a milder winter, among other factors. Cost controls, especially price curbs on reimbursable drugs, are a major brake on growth in any event, notes the industry association SNIP. The prices of reimbursable drugs are the only industrial prices to be controlled in France, and reimbursables account for 78% of sales.

This reflects well in the cost-of-living index, but penalizes older reimbursable drugs especially heavily. The cost of living index rose 98% in 1988-93 but the drug price index (reimbursables and non-reimbursables) rose only 31%. Data from the economic research group INSEE and from SNIP show that in 1980-93 the price of reimbursables alone rose 17%, six times less quickly than inflation. Non-reimbursable drug prices, fixed by producers since July 1986, rose a little faster than inflation. However, the SNIP's unofficial calculation, based on producer prices and which, related to INSEE's price index, discounts the effects of wholesaler and pharmacist margins and VAT. This shows that in 1980-93, the producer price of reimbursable specialties rose 30%, over three times less quickly than the cost of living.