Poland "Europe's fifth largest OTC market"

Poland has now overtaken Spain to become Europe's fifth largestself-medication market in terms of US dollar value, reaching some $715 million last year, says a new study from James Dudley Management.

Over two-thirds of the market's value growth has come from the country's top 10 most strongly-performing companies, and 40% of this expansion since end-1997 can be attributed to just 12 brands, with new brands accounting for 30% of market growth, it says.

The Polish self-medication market grew around 84% during 1996-2000, due almost equally to volume and value increases, it says. While much of the new brand activity centered on western companies in the early 1990s, local firms are now among the leaders in successful new product launches, with the locally-owned company US Pharmacia being the best example.