Southeast Asian generics market to reach $3.9 bn by 2016

With its fast-growing, young population and uninsured majority in Southeast Asia, countries in the region represent a great opportunity for generics in the pharmaceutical industry. 

Rhett Hemedes, OTC marketing head of Bangkok-based Great Eastern Drug Co. Ltd., notes, "Generics in Southeast Asia, while relatively small in size are growing rapidly as access to medicines are improving. This means that competition will intensify and the business will become tougher for local players and a continuing opportunity for the multinationals.

"Operations will be critical given the increasing availability of unbranded generics and price erosion as well as the increasing regulatory requirements. With the bigger markets with low access to medicines such as Indonesia opening up, the competitive environment will expand with the total number of players expected to increase at a lower marginal profit, hence the need for operational efficiency,"  Hemedes explains.

By 2016, the region's generics market has been forecasted to grow to $3.9 billion and both global and local pharma looking to capitalise on the opportunity.

Acording to Marcus Pitt, president, and CEO, Indonesian pharma and healthcare firm, SOHO Group, "There are a number of key factors that will influence the rise of generics throughout the region, these include government spending, foreign investment, price, innovation, infrastructure development, growth in number of health care professionals, establishment of medical facilities, etc.

The growth in generics places local generic manufacturers in a strong position -- many governments support local business and most foreign companies rely on the support of local partnerships. Having said that, the biggest advantage will come to a greater number of people being able to access more healthcare than they have before. One last point, we still see the therapeutic areas of cancer and diabetes as the next big growth areas -- particularly in our market, Indonesia."

Dr. Jennifer Jian Kang, senior patent attorney of Bayer Healthcare (China) says,"We have to come up with innovations that the world really needs. That way we can earn a good return on our investments, and have a business model that is financially sustainable.

But a company that innovates does much more. Innovation must become so crucial to us that it shapes our whole culture. You cannot be a world-class athlete if you do not align your whole lifestyle to this objective. So we have to embody innovation in the way we conduct all of our day-to-day business."