Espicom's in-depth pharmaceutical market reports are ideal for executives wanting to understand the key drivers in pharmaceutical markets and have access to a wealth of statistical data. Each report opens with an outlook section that provides analysis of the market, 5-year market forecasts, national data projections, market outlook and key developments such as regulation, pricing/reimbursement, intellectual property, health facilities and government policy. The report also provides extensive background information, population trends, health status, health expenditure, organisation & administration, hospital services, medical personnel, healthcare development, market access information, trade data for raw materials and finished products and essential industry contacts. Included with the report are 3 free quarterly updated outlook reports, enabling you to keep up to date with market developments for a year. Taiwan is a highly developed country, with a standard of living similar to much of southern Europe. As such, hospital services and staff are of high quality, although the latter are in short supply. Taiwan has a small domestic pharmaceutical industry; there are a large number of manufacturers, but they are almost always at the low end of the technology scale, concentrating on producing generics, OTC products and Chinese medicines.

Taiwan represents, therefore, a major market for imported, advanced drugs, with per capita spending on pharmaceuticals among the highest in Asia. Tawain's economy has been performing well in recent years and imports of pharmaceuticals have grown steadily in tandem. It is, however, a 'difficult' market. An opaque regulatory process and often highly discriminatory reimbursement practices make the market a challenging one in which to sell. These issues are currently under review although progress is unlikely to be swift. The burden of national health insurance debts is another area which the government must address and various cost-cutting measures may be enforced in the near future.

There is a heavy multinational presence and dominance of generic drugs. Over 70% of the market has been controlled by overseas multinationals since 2001. Over 100 generic drug manufacturers currently operate in Taiwan.

Provision of healthcare is generally in the private sector. There is considered to be widespread overuse of services such as outpatient consultations and drug prescriptions. The government is looking at reducing this, and interestingly, lowered prices of over 5,000 reimbursable drugs in late-2006, a move that is unlikely to reduce volume of prescriptions, especially with reduced patient co-payments, but will instead affect industry margins, especially that of patented drug manufacturers.