Brazil's over-the-counter drug sales will grow 42.3% year-on-year this year

Brazil'sover-the-counter drugsales reached $1.083 billion in the first nine months of this year, surpassing the $1.054 billion sales figure for the whole of 2006, the country's pharmaceutical regulator announced SaturdayBased on current sales, sales of over-the-counterBrazil are expected to reach $1.5 billion for the full year, up 42.3 percent from last yearBrazilian law requires that the ex-factory price ofover-the-countercan be up to 35% lower than theof similardrugsBut in fact, the price of over-the-counter drugs in Brazil is about 50% cheaper than theof brand-
drugs, due to the widespread discount promotion stakes by pharmaceutical companiesCurrently, Brazil's seven largest pharmaceutical companies produce over-the-counter drugs, four of which are domesticAccording to a study by the Brazilian Association of the Over-the-Counter Drug Industry, over-the-counter drugs accounted for only 4.9 per cent of totalsales ofdrugs in Brazil in 2002, but this year it rose to 16.6 per cent (Xinhua) --