Boston, MA -- (SBWIRE) -- 10/03/2013 -- Belgium's pharmaceutical and healthcare markets are struggling in the face of costcontainment measures. However, the government has little choice but to cut back on spending if it is to meet its European fiscal deficit target. Per capita spending on pharmaceuticals is high, and Belgium is an important location for research, clinical trials and new drug development, but drugmakers will increasingly find the government is less willing to reimburse expensive, innovative medicines. Given the ongoing economic troubles in the eurozone, we forecast that Belgium's pharmaceuticals market will not return to growth until the second half of our 10-year forecast period.

Headline Expenditure Projections

- Pharmaceuticals: EUR5.96bn (US$7.57bn) in 2012 to EUR5.87bn (US$7.80bn) in 2013; -1.6% in local currency terms and +3.1% in US dollar terms. Local currency forecast virtually unchanged from Q313.
- Healthcare: EUR40.09bn (US$50.92bn) in 2012 to EUR40.70bn (US$54.13bn) in 2013; +1.5% in local currency terms and +6.3% in US dollar terms. Local currency forecast broadly unchanged from Q313.

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Risk/Reward Rating: In our latest Pharmaceutical Risk/Reward Rating (RRR) assessment, Belgium retains its place in the regional table, ranking sixth out of the thirteen markets surveyed in the Western European region. Belgium scores above regional average scores for every indicator, with the exception of Country Risk, where its small population size limits opportunities.

Key Trends And Developments

- Chinese inspectors have visited Belgium firm UCB as part of wider investigations into drug pricing and selling techniques, following allegations that the UK's GlaxoSmithKline bribed officials and doctors in China in return for increased sales.
- In July 2013, Belgium's Galapagos received a EUR3bn (US$3.95mn) milestone payment from Francebased Servier as part of a contract concerning the former's discovery of new molecules that are under investigation as candidates for fighting osteoarthritis.
- British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline received FDA approval for its flu vaccine in August 2013; the vaccine is produced at the firm's Vaccines Research and Development site in Belgium.

BMI Economic View: At the political core of Europe, Belgium's economic wellbeing is closely tied to that of its European neighbours, and zero growth posted in the first quarter of 2013 does not bode well for the country's economy. That said, there are some positive signs emerging and increased confidence as a result, and we have raised our full-year real GDP forecast from 0.1% to 0.4% for 2013.

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