Boston, MA -- (SBWIRE) -- 08/13/2013 -- The deterioration of the Spanish economy and the government's implementation of increasingly aggressive fiscal austerity policies that focus on cost containment in the healthcare sector will lead to yearly declines in pharmaceutical spending, at least until 2017. Our view is supported by the success of previous government measures, including the steep decline in state spending on medicines and the drop in average expenditure per prescription following the implementation of Royal Decree Laws 4 and 8/2010, Royal Decree Law 9/2011 and Royal Decree Law 16/2012.

Headline Expenditure Projections

- Pharmaceuticals: EUR18.34bn (US$23.30bn) in 2012 to EUR16.44bn (US$21.86bn) in 2013; -10.4% in local currency terms and -6.2% in US dollar terms.
- Healthcare: EUR99.51bn (US$126.38bn) in 2012 to EUR98.83bn (US$131.44bn) in 2013; -0.7% in local currency terms and 4.0% in US dollar terms.

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Risk/Reward Rating

In BMI's Pharmaceutical Risk/Reward Ratings (RRRs) for Q313, Spain is ranked ninth out of the 10 countries surveyed in Western Europe. While Spain offers investors positive factors, such as its large drug market, it also has problems, such as the government's focus on cost containment, low population growth, cumbersome bureaucracy and provincial differences regarding drug regulations and reimbursement.

Key Trends And Developments

- In June 2013 it was reported that the European Commission was launching legal action against Spain over the refusal of some public hospitals to recognise the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC). The EHIC entitles EU citizens to free healthcare in public hospitals in any of the 27 EU member countries, as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. However, the commission has received hundreds of complaints about Spain from tourists who were told to reclaim the cost of treatment via their travel insurance or to pay for it themselves.
- The latest PhRMA submission to the 2013 Special 301 report by the US Trade Representative (USTR) holds mixed results for countries from Western Europe. Portugal has been placed on the Priority Watch list, while Finland, Germany, Italy and Spain have been included on the Watch List. PhRMA's submission to the USTR outlines the industry's concerns about countries' IP regime deficiencies, including adherence to the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), measures in place to deal with counterfeit medicines, the speed at which IP disputes are resolved and general barriers to accessing the market.

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