According to an IMS Health statistics, Taiwan’s pharmaceutical market reached 124.2 billion NTD in 2009, which posted a growth of 4.6% over 2008. This is slightly higher than the 1~3% growth rates for 2003~2007, but well below the high rate of 8.8% for 2008. It is noted that the adjustment of drug prices under Taiwan’s National Health Insurance (NHI) system is the major cause for fluctuations in its pharmaceutical market over recent years. Taiwan accounted for only 0.45% in the global drug market of 837.0 billion USD, with growth rates lower than the average global rate of 7.0%.
Taiwan’s domestic pharmaceutical companies produce primarily generic drugs, which are lower in price than....