It is quite known that generic pharmaceuticals such as Vardenafil, Sildenafil and Tadalafil comprise of total market share that is even less than twenty percent in the markets of Germany and UK. And this does not just stop here. Despite the sales opportunities that were created in the market by branded products such as Viagra, Levitra and Cialis, sales of these generic medications are quite less in other countries of Europe. These were the statistics of the year 2010. Market predications suggest that manufacturers of generic medications can expect to have a retail market share of 17.4% in the United Kingdom, 18.5% in Germany, 8.3%, 1.5% and 0.8% in France, Spain and Italy respectively. These are the predictions for the year 2014. The reason why the sales of these medications are difficult in Spain is because of the numerous companies that copy branded products.
The various policies regarding the registration, patents and pricing generally do work for people living in countries such as Germany and the United Kingdom. However, these policies have a negative effect on countries like Spain and Italy. On the other hand, the policies regarding registration and patents are known to work positively in France, but the pricing policy exercised here is a negative step. Wholesalers dealing in all the above five mentioned countries have an indifferent view on generic medications. Furthermore, market studies have also shown that patients living in the UK and France behave indifferently to generic medications, are positive in Germany but negative in Spain and Italy. However, during the end of the year 2008, there was a public campaign conducted in Italy to promote interest in these generic medications before the reference price system was to be introduced at that time.
Reference pricing is one another element that is associated with generic policy. These policies are usually different in all the countries of Europe, and they are not favorable for generic medications in general. The main reason behind this is that these policies set a kind of artificial price ceiling. Now this results in the creation of a lower price floor for the medications. Let us consider an example here. The retail price regulation in Netherlands sets the maximum price for all the pharmaceuticals. This had led to an increase in the price of branded medications, but it has also resulted in the increase of price in generic medications. Finally, the price difference between the branded and generic medications has almost disappeared, leaving the pharmacists with large amounts of profits, while the consumer is left with nothing indeed.
