What have we learned from the Covid pandemic?
MT Rx ant OTC market development
Introduction
The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic started in late 2019 in China and the first cases of the disease in Malta were detected in March 2020. Until the end of that month, the country reached one hundred cases and the first lockdown situation was occurred. In April 2020, the first death by Covid was reported. In October 2020 facemasks were compulsory in all public places and workplaces. In January 2021 the vaccination program started and until May, Malta became the first EU country to open the vaccine to the entire population. Today Malta has the 80% of the entire population fully vaccinated and the mask is mandatory to be used everywhere according to Malta’s Ministry of Health guidelines.
Purpose of the document
The pandemic has disrupted the economic activity and has affected the pharmaceutical markets across the globe. With this document we aim to provide insights on the pharmaceutical market development in Malta prior and during the COVID pandemic with analysis on the impact occurred in total market, Rx and OTC market separately.
Pharmaceutical market development pre/post covid
The pharmaceutical market in Malta was increasing since 2017 and in 2019 the market had the highest peak.
- 2018 vs 2017: RX market increased by 8.9% and OTC market by 11.1%.
- 2019 vs 2018: RX market increased by 7.9% and OTC market by 8%.
- 2020 vs 2019 (starting point of the pandemic): RX market decreased by 4.9% and OTC market decreased by 14.3%.
YTD comparisons
The YTD comparisons across years for the period Jan-Aug (Image 2) follow the same increasing pattern as the full-year comparisons. The market of the Rx market for YTD2021 has similar retail value with YTD2018 and the OTC YTD2021 market retail value is similar to the YTD2017.
When comparing current YTD2021 vs. YTD2020, the market value has decreased by -7.5% and -9.8% respectively for RX and OTC. Similar trend is observed when comparison YTD 2020 vs. YTD2019 but to less extend.
Year/ over year comparison: 2021 vs. 2020
Rx market
The YTD 2021 (Jan-Aug) Rx has a drop of -9.7% vs same period year ago. This is mainly driven by the negative impact from January to May21 compared to the same period in 2019. From May21 we observe a slower decline compared to the same month in 2020, June 2021 ‘recovers’ to similar levels as in June20 and July and August are still performing slightly below the 2020 market levels of 2020.
OTC Market
The YTD 2021 (Jan-Aug) Rx has a drop of -16.4% vs same period year ago.
The impact on OTC Market is more significant until June 2021, compared to the same months in 2019. From July 2021 and during the summer period onwards, the OTC market has started recovering and is moving faster than the RX Market.
The drivers of the market decline – Analysis by Anatomic class
· Rx Market – YTD2021 vs YTD2019 (Jan-Aug212)
From a drop of -9.7% in the total Rx market value anti-infectives and Respiratory system are the major drivers of the impact
– ‘Anti infectives’ experienced a -52% YTD decline and contributes with -9% to the total Rx market growth,
– ‘Respiratory System’ experienced a -23% YTD decline and contributes with -3% to the total Rx market growth,
· OTC Market – YTD2021 vs YTD2019 (Jan-Aug212)
From a drop of -16.4% YTD growth in the total OTC market value Respiratory and Nervus system are the major drivers of the impact
– ‘Respiratory System’ experienced a -45% YTD decline and contributes with -12% to the total OTC market decline,
– ‘Nervus system’ experienced a -12% YTD growth and contributes with -4% to the total OTC market decline. This decrease is mainly driven by the ‘cold and flu segment’.
