Germany’s OTC Market in 2018: Online Sees Double-Digit Growth, Bionorica’s Canephron Uno Tops New Launches
Executive Summary
Germany's online channel continued to expand to expand in 2018, with OTC product sales via mail-order pharmacy growing almost 10-times faster than through bricks-and-mortar pharmacy. Meanwhile, GSK's Voltaren brand was top-seller through both channels and Bionorica's Canephron Uno was the best-selling launch during the 12 months.
Germany’s dynamic online pharmacy channel continued to put pressure on the country’s bricks-and-mortar pharmacies in 2018, with OTC product sales in the former increasing at a rate almost ten times faster than the latter, according to Insight Health.
While OTC product sales through bricks-and-mortar pharmacy grew steadily again last year, the country’s mail-order channel expanded by double-digit figures in the twelve months ended December 2018.
In 2018, total sales of OTC products – including OTC medicines, general sales list (GSL) medicines and non-medicinal healthcare products – through bricks-and-mortar pharmacy increased by 1.6% to €4.84bn ($5.51bn) (see Figure 1).
Total sales of OTC products through Germany’s mail-order channel, by contrast, jumped up by 14% to €1.56bn in the year. Non-medicinal healthcare products were a strong growth driver during the period, with sales of these products increasing by 16.3% to €710m (see Figure 2).
Looking at the development of Germany’s online pharmacy market since 2014, it is interesting to note that sales of OTC products through this channel showed a significant acceleration in 2016, leaping forward by 14.3% to €1.18bn during the year compared to a growth of only 1.5% in the previous year.
It seems likely that this change is attributable to a 2016 ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ), which allowed foreign mail-order pharmacies selling into Germany to offer discounts on prescription medicines, much to the ire of the country’s bricks-and-mortar pharmacists.
Online pharmacies like Zur Rose AG’s DocMorris subsidiary – which sells prescription and OTC medicines into Germany from the Netherlands – soon capitalized on the ruling by pumping large sums of money into marketing activities.
Figure 3 shows that the mail-order channel has since established itself as a strong competitor to the still quite traditional bricks-and-mortar channel, with the former now making up almost a quarter of the total OTC market through pharmacy in 2018.
Turning to the top-three selling OTC medicines through bricks-and-mortar pharmacy in 2018, GlaxoSmithKline PLC’s (GSK’s) Voltaren Schmerzgel analgesic patch was the clear leader with total sales of €180m during the year, almost 40% higher than its closest competitor, Bionorica SE’s Sinupret cough and cold remedy at €129m (see Figure 4).
Voltaren Schmerzgel was also the biggest seller through mail-order pharmacy, generating turnover of €38.6m, followed by Dr Willmar Schwabe GmbH & Co. KG’s herbal ‘nootropic’ supplement, Tebonin, which achieved total sales of €24.1m in the 12 months.
Meanwhile, Bionorica’s Canephron Uno cystitis treatment was the most successful launch during the year, posting sales of €6.4m since hitting the German market in March, followed by GSK’s Zovirax Duo herpes cream – switched from prescription-only to OTC status the year before (Also see "Zovirax launched OTC in Germany" - HBW Insight, 23 Mar, 2018.) – and Norgine BV’s bowel cleanser (see Figure 5).
While cosmetics launches – La Roche-Posay Laboratoire Pharmaceutique’s Hyalu B5 Hyaluronic Acid Serum and Dr. Theiss Naturwaren GmbH’s Hyaluron Teint Perfection – dominated the top-three non-medicinal product launches in 2018, Sanofi-Aventis Deutschland GmbH’s herbal cough syrup Mucosolvan Phyto Complete held its own, achieving sales of €2.5m in only three months since its launch in September.
However, Sanofi has recently been forced to withdraw Mucosolvan Phyto Complete from the German market.
According to pharmacy magazine DAZ.online, the firm sent at the beginning of February a letter to pharmacists explaining that it had been prohibited from selling the product by the country’s competition authority.
In response to a request for further information from the magazine, Sanofi said that it could not provide any further information “during ongoing legal disputes,” adding that it did not at that time want to “speculate about the outcome of the dispute.”