Parapharmacy Takes Off In France

A number of French groups specializing exclusively in parapharmacy are reporting remarkable success in a market said to be worth 40 billion French francs ($7.5 billion). They are led by Euro Sante Beaute, with sales of almost 100 million francs ($19 million).

In 1988, Maurice Tisler, founder of parapharmacy firm Parasante, took advantage of the 1987 law authorizing parapharmaceutical sales outside registered pharmacies and opened his first "Healthcare Space" in the commercial complex in Velizy. Since then, independents and groups of pharmacists, faced with the decline in drug margins, have opened centers halfway between traditional pharmacies and superstores. Mr Tisler's sales have risen 28% annually, while Euro Sante Beaute has expanded its chain of shops alongside firms such as Cap Sante and Parashop. The concept in each case is to offer parapharmacy products at prices 20%-30% below those in pharmacies, in premises of up to 450 sq ft which enable them to employ pharmacists and beauticians as advisors.

pharmacist Serge Rader, who has campaigned for lower pharmacy prices in the registered sector this year, says traditional pharmacies which do not give up their individuality and cooperate, for example in bulk purchasing, will sink. However, his campaign alone helped triple volume sales in Rader registered pharmacies.