For pharmaceutical companies who want to explore international markets, identifying these target markets is the first step. Being able to pinpoint the right target market, will increase the probability for more business deals. In order to help you with this process, we have listed 5 of the more important aspects to consider.

I.  Product information

A.  Know your products

Pharmaceutical drugs are different from other general products since their quality has a great impact on treatments. This, of course, is why there are strict management standards for drugs in every country. Before any drug is released onto the market, it must be registered and approved by the local drug regulators. Therefore, you should familiarize yourself with all of the drug’s relevant information like registrations, classifications ,clinical and non-clinical trials.

B.  Know your competitors

Gather as much information about domestic exporters of the same products in terms of registration information, workshop production lines and GMP certifications to identify your competitive advantages.

II.  Product market sales

A.  Domestic competitors

Do research on the countries your competitors export their products to. In general, the countries that your products can enter should be your priority market and the ones with large sales volumes should be the focus of your future developments.

B.  Branded drugs

If there are no domestic companies exporting their products to your target market, it’s advisable for you to research the sales of branded drugs in international markets and decide on your next move from there.   

C.  Market capacity

If you have limited access to the above information, identifying the potential market capacity can also serve your purposes. Usually the local population and the corresponding incidence of diseases can be used as a reference.

III.  Retail price

After identifying the target countries, the next step is to assess the price of the drugs in the target markets and the estimated profits.

Tip: The local retail price of the drugs and the CIF import price of the products sold, should also be taken into consideration.

IV. Registration requirements of target countries

While fully investigating the market, you also need to carefully review the registration laws and regulations for drugs in the target countries and scrutinize the following key points:

a. Requirements for GMP certification;

b. Requirements for clinical and non-clinical data;

c. Whether there is a need for clinical trials in the target country;

d. Whether the drug regulatory authorities in the target country need to conduct an on-site inspection of the drug's production line?

e. Development planning

Your market development plan has to be in line with the company's short, medium and long-term planning. In general, countries with a large market capacity and very strict regulation laws may serve as long-term development goals while countries with low registration requirements and no on-site inspections for clinical trials and production could be short-term targets, allowing you to get your products registered as soon as possible.

After analyzing the factors mentioned above, you should be better equipped to make more informed decisions regarding the possibilities of exploring your target markets, enabling you to make reasonable plans for the ones you wish to develop.