French drug sales rose 4%-4.5% in 2007

The French drug industry association (LEEM) has announced that, for 2007, sales of reimbursable drugs increased 4%-4.5% in value to about 19.5 billion euros ($28.71 billion). The volume of drug sales remained largely unchanged.

The picture was different in clinics and hospitals, where the rate of pharmaceutical sales grew 7.5% and pharmacy dispensing, which advanced about 4%. Among the factors affecting sales last year, Christian Lajoux, the LEEM's president, noted extra generic drug competition, problems bringing new medicines to market and a lack of price transparency in the sector. Mr Lajoux added that US drug major Wyeth's Enbrel (etanercept) for rheumatoid arthritis and fellow USA-based biotechnology giant Amgen's Neulasta (pegfilgrastim), a chemotherapy-induced neutropenia agent, were among the best-selling products.