German Drug Sector Growth Stabilizing

In first-quarter 1996, German drug sales through pharmacies rose 6.9% to 6.4 billion Deutschemarks ($4.22 billion) at manufacturers' selling prices. The VFA, the association of research-based drugmakers, says this indicates growth continuing the trend of the last two years.

Ulrich Vorderwuelbecke, VFA director for domestic and foreign markets, says there was a "significant stabilization of the market after the flu epidemic in January and February." Sales in the first two months exceeded the same 1995 months by 13.6% and 12.4% respectively, but fell 3.8% in March 1996 against March 1995.

Volume grew 18% in January and 12.9% in February, largely due to sales of cold and influenza treatments, and was followed by a volume decline of 8.6% in March. For the rest of 1996, Dr Vorder-wuelbecke expects moderate development, above all because prices fell slightly (-0.2%) in the first quarter.