The greek pharmaceutical industry: problems and future prospects.

Abstract

The theme of the specific thesis analyses the social, constitutional and regulatory characteristics of the pharmaceutical market in Greece which is regulated extensively by the state though periodic public-controlling measures affecting both the demand and supply side for pharmaceuticals in order to restrict pharmaceutical expenditure. Pharmaceutical expenditure’s steady increase, however, coupled with a period of deep recession and consequently a program of fiscal stabilization reforms which Greece is facing nowadays, are threatening the constitutional and financial viability of the pharmaceutical industry making it now more imperative than ever for a comprehensive pharmaceutical policy to be formulated and implemented which would stabilize the structure of the pharmaceutical system. In the first part the factors which affect domestic demand together with the epidemiological and demographic factors which contributed to the health status of the Greek state will be extensively described. Moreover, the expenditure patterns of the pharmaceutical industry and its fluctuations in Greece during the last decade will be analyzed. The main features of Greece’s pharmaceutical industry which are its supply structures and the existing regulatory and institutional framework will also be referred to with elaborate detail below. Furthermore, public policy's role and the measures which focus on the restructuring of the pharmaceutical market and the decrease of its expenditure will likewise be referenced to, while a brief analysis of government measures which have been adapted as part of the fiscal stabilization program in Greece will also be touched upon. Last but not least, the thesis ends with an extensive reference to the problems pharmaceutical companies face resulting from the Greek government’s interventions and on a proposal for an alternative regulatory solution that would constitute an efficient and stable pharmaceutical environment for the Greek pharmaceutical industry and ensure the sustainability of future prospects.