Early Results of Transformation of Pharmaceutical Industry in Turkey: Scope of Localization

Background:The pharmaceutical industry is one of the leading industries in the world in terms of economic value and high technology. Turkey's pharmaceutical market reached 40.7 billion TL in 2019. In the Turkish pharmaceutical market, domestic pharmaceuticals had a market share of 43.2% in value and 79.6% on the box scale in 2010. To improve this situation "Structural Transformation Program in Health Industries" was included in 10th Development Plan (2013-2018) which was published in 2013.In this study we aimed to determinethe early effects of localization program on the pharmaceutical market in Turkey from the manufacturing point of view. Method:In this study, annual sales of pharmaceuticals on value (in TL) based compared by dividing into two groups as domestic pharmaceuticals and imported pharmaceuticals in the Turkish market between the years 2010-2019 and 2014-2019. The upward trend of annual domestic and imported pharmaceutical adjusted sales figures was analyzed by time-series regression analysis. Results:In the period between 2010-2019 the increase trends in the domestic and imported figures were statistically significant. But the significant difference between these two trends has been seen only in the periods between 20142019. Domestic products uptrend is steeper than import product trend in this period. Conclusion:Turkey's production capacity has increased along with the first effects of the localization program. When market data and data of our study are evaluated together, we might say that transition to high value production has not been sufficiently realized. Turkey has to focus on producing innovative and high-tech pharmaceuticals.