Czech Republic,

April 2020

Home to a USD 3.38 billion pharma market, one of Central and Eastern Europe’s most high-performing healthcare systems, and one of the region’s leading economies, the Czech Republic’s healthcare and life sciences market is fast closing the gap on its Western European equivalents.

A traditionally tightly regulated domestic market is undergoing reform, and a more amenable administration is putting in place a system more conducive to the latest medical innovations. Notable progress has been made in the fields of preventative medicine, cutting-edge oncology treatments, and orphan drugs.

However, the country’s reference pricing system, whereby reimbursement is set based on the lowest price in the EU acts as a significant impediment to the introduction of both innovative and generic drugs alike to the Czech market.

The Czech Republic is staking a name for itself as a prime investment location, situated at the heart of Europe and with strong connections to the rest of the continent and beyond. Moreover, several multinational firms are setting up regional hubs and service centres in the capital, Prague, as well as centres of excellence for research …

Other key topics covered in this comprehensive new report include the country’s medical device sector, how the patient voice is increasingly being heard in the decision-making process, a burgeoning medical aesthetics segment, and much more.

Articles

Czech Clinical Trials: Finding the Niches

The Czech Republic boasts a solid clinical research infrastructure and a supportive regulatory environment, meaning that it stands out as one of Central and Eastern Europe’s top destinations for clinical trials. However, a decline in the number of clinical trials in recent years means that Czech stakeholders are looking to find niches in which it…

Company Spotlight: STADA Czech Republic

As one of the few pharma companies in the Czech Republic to offer products across the whole healthcare spectrum, including prescription drugs, generics, over-the-counter (OTC) treatments, and food supplements, the 125-year-old German firm STADA has established a strong Czech affiliate in recent times. The beauty of STADA is that we are almost in every…

Pharma Faces: Jiří Žák, Chairman of FARMAK, Czech Republic

In 1996 Jiří Žák, chairman & current CEO of FARMAK, borrowed half a billion Czech crowns to take over a state-owned producer of vitamins for which he had started working almost 30 years previously. My goal is to continue reinvesting our profits to keep growing and leave behind a thriving, debt-free and sound company…

A New Era of Access to Innovation in the Czech Republic?

Pharma industry stakeholders are generally quick to suggest that the Czech Republic is one of the most over-regulated markets in Europe, with new or innovative therapies facing significant delays before being able to enter the market. While the timelines are still outside the defined framework, the situation is much better than it was before…

Orphan Drugs: Building the Regulatory Framework in the Czech Republic

A cross-industry push for better and broader access to innovative treatments is underway in the Czech Republic. Ripe for reform is the country’s orphan drug legislation as no standard pathway for their assessment, pricing and reimbursement currently exists. [For cancer treatment the country has been] quite successful in moving the needle, but we can…

Consolidation & Digitalization in the Czech Pharmacy Sector: New Strategies Needed for Consumer Healthcare Players

Increasing consolidation and digitalization within the Czech pharmacy sector is forcing consumer healthcare firms to rethink their strategies. Pharmacy Consolidation Within the Central and Eastern European (CEE) region, the pharmaceutical supply chain is relatively fragmented. However, compared to its neighbours, the Czech Republic has undergone a rapid consolidation and vertical integration of its medicine…