Spanish market grows in economic slowdown

The Spanish pharmaceuticals market grew 11.7% in first-half 2001 to505.65 billion pesetas ($2.60 billion), despite a more general economic slowdown, with the Glaxo Wellcome/SmithKline Beecham merger having generated new life into the sector, say observers.

Sales at leading Spanish drugmaker Almirall Prodesfarma grew 4.3% to 31.91 billion pesetas, compared with GlaxoSmithKline's 33.59 billion pesetas, while Esteve's rose 15.2% to 20.02 billion pesetas. Good growth was also seen for Pfizer, up 20.1%, Lilly SAE, rising 27.3%, and Janssen Cilag, up 20.8%.