Abstract
Background
Despite the fact that the market availability of medicines has been recognized as one of the most important components in the health-care system, its association with other factors is still in doubt.
Objective
This study aimed at determining the factors associated with the number of trade names and products of systemic anti-infective medicines available for the market in Thailand.
Methods
A cross-sectional study on the data from the Thai National List of Essential Medicines (Thai EML) 2008 and Thailand Index of Medical Specialties 2008 was undertaken.
Results
Results showed a total of 702 trade names and 1,262 products from 137 generic drugs. Half of the products belonged to the classes of beta-lactam antibacterials (39%) and quinolone antibacterials (11.3%). The significant factors found were dosage forms of medicines, manufacturer types and category. The generic drugs that were prepared in more than one dosage form, produced by local manufacturers and categorized as essential medicines (EMs) would have a greater number of trade names and products than those done in one dosage form by foreign manufacturers and as non-EMs.
Conclusion
There are at least three factors associated with the number of trade names and products of systemic anti-infective medicines, which include dosage forms of medicines, manufacturer types and EM category. These factors have involved the technical issue, private sector and Thai EML. One suggestion from this finding is to use the Thai EML as a means to control the market availability of systemic anti-infective products in the country.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Andersson K, Bergstrom G, Petzold MG, Carlsten A (2007) Impact of a generic substitution reform on patients’ and society’s expenditure for pharmaceuticals. Health Policy 81(2–3):376–384
Aronsson T, Bergman MA, Rudholm N (2001) The impact of generic drug competition on brand name market share-Evidence from micro data. Rev Ind Organ 19:425–435
Bergman MA, Rudholm N (2003) The relative importance of actual and potential competition: empirical evidence from the pharmaceutical market. J Ind Econ LI (4):455–465
Burapadaja S, Kawasaki N, Charumanee S, Ogata F (2007a) Effects of essential medicines on cardiovascular products available for the market in Thailand. Health Policy 84:67–74
Burapadaja S, Kawasaki N, Kittipongpatana O, Ogata F (2007b) Study on variations in prices of prescription medicines in Thailand. Yakugaku Zasshi. J Pharm Soc Jpn 127(3):515–526
Calfee JE (2001) Pharmaceutical price control and patient welfare. Ann Intern Med 134:1060–1064
Dalen DM, Strom S, Haabeth T (2006) Price regulation and generic competition in the pharmaceutical market. Eur J Health Econ 7:208–214
Gale EAM, Clark A (2000) A drug on the market? Lancet 355:61–63
Geitona M, Zavras D, Hatzikou M, Kyriopoulos J (2005) Generics market in Greece: The pharmaceutical industry’s beliefs. Health Policy 79(1):35–48
Hadjimichael C, Georgiou K, Samoutis G, Demetriades E (2006) Sales of systemic anti-infective agents in Cyprus in comparison with other Europe countries. Pharm World Sci 28:135–139
Hoffman JM, Shah ND, Vermeulen LC, Schumock GT, Grim P, Hunkler RJ et al (2006) Projecting future drug expenditures-2006. Am J Health-Syst Pharm 63:123–138
Kanavos P, Costa-Font J (2005) Pharmaceutical parallel trade in Europe: stakeholder and competition effects. Econ Policy 20(44):751–798
Kaphingst KA, Rudd RE, Dejong W, Daltroy LH (2004) Literacy demands of product information intended to supplement television direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertisements. Patient Educ Couns 55(2):293–300
Kisa A (2006) Analysis of the pharmaceutical market and its technological development in Turkey. Int J Technol Assess 22(4):537–542
Lexchin J (2004) The effect of generic competition on the price of brand-name drug. Health Policy 68:47–54
Lexchin J (2006) A comparison of new drug availability in Canada and the United States and potential therapeutic implications of differences. Health Policy 79(2–3):214–220
Liu Y, Doucette WR, Farris KB, Nayakankuppam D (2005) Drug information seeking intention and behavior after exposure to direct-to-consumer advertisement of prescription drugs. Res Soc Admin Pharm 1(2):251–269
Overbye KM, Barrett JF (2005) Antibiotics: Where did we go wrong? Drug Discov 10(1):45–52
Prasnikar J, Skerlj T (2006) New product development process and time-to-market in the generic pharmaceutical industry. Ind Market Manag 35:690–702
Saha A, Grabowski H, Bimbaum H, Greenberg P, Bizan O (2006) Generic competition in the US pharmaceutical industry. Int J Econ Bus 13(1):15–38
Sampath PG (2006) India’s product patent protection regime: less or more of “Pills for the Poor”. J World Intellect Prop 9(6):694–726
Suh DC, Lacy CR, Barone JA, Moylan D, Kostis JB (1999) Factors contributing to trends in prescription drug expenditures. Clin Ther 21(7):1241–1253
Thai Food and Drug Administration (2008) Thai Drug Control Division. Drug statistics: value of production and import. Available at www.fda.moph.go.th/drug, accessed 10 September 2008
Valles JA, Barreiro M, Cereza G, Ferro JJ, Martinez MJ, Maria J et al (2003) A prospective multicenter study of the effect of patient education on acceptability of generic prescribing in general practice. Health Policy 65:269–275
Wang YR (2006) Price competition in the Chinese pharmaceutical market. Int J Health Finan Econ 6:119–129
Wibulpolprasert S et al (2002) Thai Drug System. Thai Agriculture Cooperative Printing, Bangkok, pp 92, 155
World Health Organization (2000) The World Health Report 2000. Health Systems: Improving Performance. Geneva
World Health Organization (2008) WHO Collaborating Center for Drug Statistics Methodology 2008. ATC/DDD Index 2008. Available at www.whocc.no/atcddd, accessed 2 September 2008
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Kokubu Hospital, Osaka, Japan, for funding this study.
Conflict-of-interest statement
The authors confirm that there are no relevant associations that might pose a conflict of interest.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Burapadaja, S., Kawasaki, N., Charumanee, S. et al. Factors associated with the market availability of systemic anti-infective products in Thailand (no. 743). J Public Health 17, 251–256 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10389-009-0247-8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10389-009-0247-8