Global spending on medications to slow over next 4 years

PanARMENIAN.Net - Growth in global spending on medications will slow markedly over the next four years due to a slew of new low-cost generic drugs coming to pharmacies in the U.S. and other developed countries, along with slower increases in what those countries spend on brand-name drugs, a new forecast says. according to AP.

During a same period, from 2012 through 2016, the pharmaceutical industry will sharply boost its sales in emerging markets including China, India and Russia, according to the report from data firm IMS Health, which collects and analyzes data on pharmaceutical sales around the world.

Spending will grow at "historically low levels" in the U.S. and might even decline by a percent in Europe, the report states.

The U.S. share of the world's prescription drug spending will drop from about 41 percent in 2006 and 34 percent last year to 31 percent in 2016. Spending by emerging markets will jump from 14 percent of the total in 2006 to 30 percent in 2016. By 2016, the U.S. will be spending about $892 a year on medicines for an estimated 326 million people, compared to $420 a person in Canada, $121 per person in China and just $33 a year per person in India.