Generic share of Austria's market under-reported

The secretary general of Austria's pharmaceutical industry association, Pharmig, Jan Oliver Huber, has accused local media reports of understating the market penetration of generic drugs. The 20% share claimed by Der Standard provoked an indignant Dr Huber to say that the newspaper had "consciously" used "false numbers" to make its point.

He added that IMS Health data show that the proportion of generics in the overall drug market is 25.1% in value, but 41.4% by volume. Copy products and "gleichpreisigen" preparations in Austria according to value made up 25.1% of the pharmacy retail market.

Dr Huber stated that, despite what is reported locally, Austria's generic drug share of the market is at about the European average. He attributed this first of all to the restrictive price control system in place. He stated: "the fact is that, in Austria, with the admission of the third generic to the Pharmacopeia, the price of the original preparation must be lowered to the price of the most favorable generic. This regulation does not exist anywhere else in Europe."