Depending on your viewpoint, generic drugs represent either the future of the global pharmaceutical industry or an irritating drain on the revenues of R&D based companies. The sector continues to grow in importance, fuelled by the twin pressures of therapeutically significant products coming off patent and health provider demands for lower prices. Analysts in industry and commerce must have a clear understanding of the threats and opportunities in key markets worldwide.

Generics market reports from Espicom Business Intelligence are produced by a multi-lingual editorial team with over 25 years pharmaceutical market experience. And when that experience is combined with one of the best healthcare market databases around, and informed by direct access to over 1200 companies and organisations worldwide, you have unbeatable, reliable, qualified and enriched market analysis. Germany is the largest pharmaceutical market in Europe and the third largest in the world, behind on the USA and Japan. The market is very receptive to generics, which account for around one third of the pharmacy market by value. The regulatory and reimbursement systems are ‘pro-generic', and there is little resistance to their use from prescribers and patients.

Germany has a strong generic manufacturing sector, headed by three main companies: Hexal, ratiopharm and Stada Arzneimittel. There is growing international competition, however. Hexal is now owned by Sandoz, and the middle ranking company, Betapharm, was acquired by Dr Reddy's earlier this year.

In part this consolidation is being driven by intensifying price competition. Changes to the pricing and reimbursement system, most recently the introduction of the AVWG in May 2006, should help boost generic consumption, but they also exert downward pressure on generic prices.

This in-depth report provides a wide-ranging examination of the generic pharmaceuticals market, including the operating environment, current market size, future prospects and five-year market projections.