Mylan, an American generic-drug manufacturer, has announced plans to expand in Poland. "Mylan established its presence in Poland in June 2008, and since then has registered 25 generic drugs, mainly for central neurological and urological conditions," according to Tomasz Florkiewicz, general director for Mylan in Poland.
"Next year we want to introduce 30 more drugs to the Polish market," he added.
After acquiring the generic unit of German drug giant Merck in 2007, Mylan became the world's third-largest generic-drug maker after Teva and Sandoz, with sales exceeding $5 (zł.15.23) billion in 2007.
"The Polish market is dominated by generic drugs, but it is constantly developing. The growing life expectancy and increasing health awareness of Polish consumers creates development opportunities," explained Florkiewicz.
Polish generic-drug maker Adamed does not see Mylan as direct competition, as the companies concentrate on different types of drugs. "We are used to big players entering Poland. It is a stable and mature market which reacts calmly to newcomers," said Anna Czajkowska of Adamed.
Although Mylan did not reveal its strategy, other drug producers expect it to compete with lower prices.
Generic drugs are cheaper than original medicines and generic makers face strong competition from pharmaceutical giants such as GlaxoSmithKline, Sanofi-Aventis or Pfizer.
Additionally, some big pharmaceutical companies are suspected of intentionally blocking the introduction of generic drugs to the markets. According to the European Generic Medicines Association, loopholes in patent laws allow hundreds of patent claims to be filed for a single drug, extending the normal patent expiration dates by an average of seven months.
Recent reports by the European Commissioner for Competition pointed out that at least €3 (zł.11.5) billion would have been saved in Europe from 2000 to 2007 - or five percent of individual medical bills - if large pharmaceutical companies had allowed generic drugs to be introduced into the market sooner.
