Foreign Distributors Seek To Buy Cheap Drugs From Romania, Sell Them Elsewhere - Roche

Drug distributors in other countries want to buy drugs from Romania, where prices haven’t been adjusted to the currency exchange rate, to sell them on other markets, said Sunday Dan Zamonea, general manager for drug distributor Roche Romania.

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"Right now, the Romanian drug market is confronted with the risk of parallel imports. That is, distributors from outside the country buy drugs from producers on the Romanian market and sell them in other countries, because prices in Romania haven’t been adjusted,” Zamonea explained.

The official added he has received requests from foreign distributors, but declined to give further details.

"You can’t tell them no, because Romania is a member of the European Union and is subject to norms that stipulate free movement of goods and services,” he said.

He added that, if prices are adjusted on January 1, 2009, foreign distributors might not be as interested in buying drugs from Romania.

The Romanian Health Ministry froze drug prices for 18 months, at the exchange rate of April 2007, of 3.32 lei to the euro and 2.44 lei to the U.S. dollar, although the rate for imports is 15-20% higher.

End October, when drug distribution was halted, the exchange rates were slightly adjusted to 3.63 lei to the euro. Drug price changes only targeted compensated and free drugs.

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