New Study: South Korea Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare Report Q3 2015

The South Korean government will continue to enforce price pressures on pharmaceuticals as a means to contain the escalating healthcare costs brought on by the country's ageing population. This is particularly as other avenues - including shifting the healthcare cost burden onto consumers - will remain more subdued as private expenditure already accounts for a large portion of total healthcare spending. Moreover, South Korea has developed multiple price control mechanisms that it can leverage upon to reduce pharmaceutical prices.

Headline Expenditure Projections

* Pharmaceuticals: KRW16,590bn (USD15.8bn) in 2014 to KRW17,116.6bn (USD16.3bn) in 2015; +3.2% in local currency terms and -1.2% in US dollar terms. Forecast broadly in line with Q215.
* Healthcare: KRW108,117.1bn (USD102.7bn) in 2014 to KRW114,291.6bn (USD103.9bn) in 2015; +5.7% in local currency terms and +1.2% in US dollar terms. Forecast slightly downgraded from previous quarter.

Risk/Reward Indices

Full Report Details at
- http://www.fastmr.com/prod/991608_south_korea_pharmaceuticals.aspx?afid=301

In Q3 2015, South Korea ranks second out of the 19 countries surveyed in the Asia Pacific region. South Korea's score for its Rewards variable is high, indicating the country's favourable longer-term standing in terms of its pharmaceutical market development. However, we note that Risks - particularly in relation to pharmaceutical pricing and reimbursement - will remain present, especially as the population ages and requires more public sector resources.

Key Trends & Developments

* In March 2015, Boehringer Ingelheim Korea, the South Korean unit of German drugmaker Boehringer Ingelheim, aims to double its market share in the country by 2020 under its '2 by 2020' programme. The move comes despite the company reportedly facing sluggish growth owing to severe competition, regulatory issues and administrative red tape.
* In the same month, Samsung Bioepis submitted a marketing authorisation application to the EMA for its Remicade (infliximab) biosimilar candidate, SB2. Remicade is marketed by ...

The South Korea Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare Report features BMI Research's forecasts for drugs and healthcare expenditure and imports and exports, focusing on the growth outlook for the prescription, OTC, patented drugs and generics market segments.

BMI's South Korea Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare Report provides industry professionals, strategists, company executives, investors, analysts and sales/marketing heads with independent forecasts and competitive intelligence on the South Korea pharmaceutical and healthcare industry.

Key Benefits

* Benchmark BMI's pharmaceutical and healthcare market forecasts for South Korea, to test other views - a key input for successful budgeting and strategic business planning in the Korean pharmaceutical and healthcare market.

About Fast Market Research

Fast Market Research is a leading distributor of market research and business information. Representing the world's top research publishers and analysts, we provide quick and easy access to the best competitive intelligence available. Our unbiased, expert staff is always available to help you find the right research to fit your requirements and your budget.

For more information about these or related research reports, please visit our website at http://www.fastmr.com or call us at 1.800.844.8156 (1.413.485.7001 Int'l)

You may also be interested in these related reports:

- South Africa Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare Report Q2 2015
- Hong Kong Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare Report Q3 2015
- Australia Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare Report Q3 2015
- Japan Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare Report Q3 2015
- Argentina Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare Report Q3 2015