DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/aec5e8/hong_kong_pharmace) has announced the addition of the "Hong Kong Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare Report Q1 2011" report to their offering.
Hong Kong Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare Report provides industry professionals and strategists, corporate analysts, pharmaceutical associations, government departments and regulatory bodies with independent forecasts and competitive intelligence on Hong Kong's pharmaceuticals and healthcare industry.
Growth of the pharmaceutical market in Hong Kong is expected to be steady over the medium term. The market should reach HKD10.56bn (US$1.35bn) in value at consumer prices by 2014, up from the calculated HKD7.19bn (US$926mn) in 2009. This represents a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.99% in local currency terms, which will somewhat decrease to 7.06% over our longer, ten-year forecast period to 2019. A testament to its attractiveness, Hong Kong now occupies fifth place in the Asia Pacific Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare Business Environment Ratings (BER) matrix for Q111, which ranks 17 key regional markets.
The above forecasts are based on a number of trends and expectations. Private per-capita drug expenditure will continue to rise as the government aims to cut public sector deficits and as expected changes facilitate the creation of private pharmacies in hospitals. Additionally, the proposed voluntary health insurance scheme also has the potential to improve the breadth of healthcare service and the use of pharmaceuticals. Healthcare uptake in general is projected to rise, in part due to population expansion, but mainly because the proportion of older people within the population is rising, which requires more attention to chronic diseases.
In fact, in October 2010, reports in The Standard suggested that diabetes leads to blindness in about 200 people in Hong Kong each year. A total of 700,000 people (10% of Hong Kong's population) suffer from diabetes. This number is expected to shoot up to 860,000 by 2025, according to an International Diabetes Federation report. In a related development, however, the Hong Kong Department of Health (DH) has recommended the restricted use of a diabetic drug containing rosiglitazone. This comes after the registration committee of the Pharmacy and Poisons Board asked doctors to stop the use of the drug in patients with a history of heart failure. However, the committee has allowed for the use of the drug in type 2 diabetes patients who are unable control their condition with other medications.
Although Hong Kong's economy expanded by an impressive 6.5% year-on-year (y-o-y) in Q210, we caution that a downturn is looming on the back of weaker external conditions. We see unemployment rates generally embarking on an uptrend over the coming quarters on the back of weakening economic momentum. We also note that there are serious upside risks, and any continued positive growth momentum would boost 2010 headline statistics at the expense of 2011 figures. Nevertheless, the government has committed itself to an increase in healthcare expenditure in the coming years, which should provide a degree of stability to the healthcare and pharmaceuticals marketplace, despite the economic uncertainty.
Companies Mentioned:
- Wuyi International Pharmaceutical
- CK Life Sciences
- South Asia Pharmamedic
- C&Y Pharmaceutical Investment
- Vida Laboratories
- GlaxoSmithKline
- Pfizer
- Sanofi-Aventis
- Merck & Co
- Novartis
For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/aec5e8/hong_kong_pharmace