Page 54 - Retail Pharmacy November/Decemeber 2020

ANNUAL REPORT 53 STATE OF THE INDUSTRY Methodology Volume of sales is based on census data provided by IQVIA. The value of prescription and consumer health categories and products are then calculated by multiplying the total market sales by the average selling price from pharmacy. Sales are from October 2019 to September 2020. About NostraData Since 2010, NostraData has been a trusted partner to retail and hospital pharmacies, providing rich data and deep insights to its partners via innovative analytical platforms that focus customers on the most important aspects of their business opportunities. Questions about how we can help you can be directed to sales@ nostradata.com.au. About IQVIA information, innovative technology solutions and contract research services dedicated to using analytics and science to help healthcare stakeholders find better solutions for their patients. Solutions are powered by the IQVIA CORE, which combines big data, advanced technology, analytics and extensive industry knowledge. Formed through the merger of IMS Health and Quintiles, IQVIA has about 55,000 employees worldwide. IQVIA (NYSE:IQV) is a leading global provider of Learn more at iqvia.com. BTy NostraData Director Mike da Gama and Business Manager Nick Biggs umultuous. Unprecedented. Stressful. Unpredictable. These are just some of the words that we’ve heard describe the year that was. No matter how you define it, the numbers agree. Though demand peaks and troughs have been extreme, the volume of prescription sales through community pharmacy has returned to relatively good growth, rising 4.2 per cent between October 2019 and September 2020 compared with the previous 12 months (October 2018 to September 2019). For the remainder of the report, we’ll refer to this as the reporting period. A concerning downward trend in consumer sales has continued from the last reporting period (June 2020). While temporarily buoyed by spikes in sales of hand sanitiser and other personal hygiene products, this reporting period has seen a decline in retail value of 3.1 per cent. One wonders if this is due to pharmacy being a victim of its own good intentions, supporting the fight against Covid and encouraging phone order and delivery of medicines, thereby reducing the in-store visits and ensuing consumer sales. Did this result in grocery absorbing these purchases? If pharmacies had better-integrated click and delivery platforms (script and OTC) they may have mitigated this decline. In the top categories, the differences show that these product groups have faced more pressure than the market overall: Prescription sales top 10 categories 2019 $12.1 billion 2020 $12.6 billion +3.7% Consumer sales top 15 categories 2019 $6.1 billion 2020 $5.8 billion -4.9% 2019: Oct 2018 to Sep 2019; 2020: Oct 2019 to Sep 2020. Prescriptions: biologicals drive growth while hep C treatments and acute anti-infective sales collapse Just before the national lockdown in March this year, we witnessed unprecedented panic buying by Australians, of everything from toilet paper to medicines. Concerned citizens bought more than they needed, creating an artificial demand spike and significant out-of-stock situations across many medications. Prescription demand was especially high in chronic medications, such as cardiovascular, respiratory and diabetes treatments. This rush was short-lived, in part due to the federal Department of Health, the Pharmacy Guild, and Pharmaceutical Society of Australia working together to implement dispensing restrictions on many medicines, both prescription and OTC (Brown et al, 2020). TO PAGE 54 RETAIL PHARMACY • NOV/DEC 2020