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General Method of Data Collection
IMS' pharmaceutical audits
for individual countries serve as the main source of comparative
sales data on the pharmaceutical industry. The audits
are continuous, periodic market surveys based on statistically
representative samples, the data from which provide regional
and national estimates. In the major countries, the pharmaceutical
audits incorporate transaction data from wholesalers giving
rise to a near-census of the retail market.
Each country audit records the data according to local
requirements. Therefore the way data is collected and
held will vary from country to country. In the European
countries and America, the majority of pharmaceuticals
are dispensed or sold mainly through retail pharmacies
and drug stores. Thus sampling at the retail pharmacy
level in such countries will represent a major proportion
of the total market. Consequently, most of the IMS audits
are sampled through retail pharmacies. There are some
exceptions, for example Japan (see below).
The audits provide a comprehensive record of purchases
of pharmaceuticals in each country. A number of retail
pharmacies and wholesalers are chosen for sampling (sample
size) and sales data is collected by IMS on a regular
basis. This data is then projected to estimate sales for
the total number of retail pharmacies in a country (this
is referred to as the universe). With some variation in
each country, the sales estimates shown represent direct
and indirect purchases by retail pharmacies from pharmaceutical
wholesalers and manufacturers.
It should be noted that, whilst IMS data is the most comprehensive
source available to monitor sales through their retail
channels, some products are more widely distributed and
used in a hospital or clinic environment (for example
oncology, diagnostic or specialist anti-infective treatments).
For such products, IMS retailer-based audits do not provide
comprehensive coverage, and supplementary data sources
will be required to project these data to a total universe
for these specialist products.
DATA VALUES AND DEFINITIONS
SALES VALUES
IMS' pharmaceutical audits
report sales at either MANUFACTURER selling price (wholesale
purchase price), TRADE price (pharmacy purchase price/wholesale
selling price) or PUBLIC price. Sales in this report are
calculated based on sales from manufacturer to wholesalers
known as the ex-manufacturer price. In many countries,
including USA, Canada, Japan and throughout Latin America,
these are estimated weighted average factors, which take
into account varying margins and the direct/indirect sales
mix. As market conditions change the conversion factors
are updated by the local IMS offices. Changes in factors
are not retroactively applied to historic data.
GROWTH RATES
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This indicates growth
expressed in percentage terms, during the time
period specified. A value of >999 indicates
growth exceeding 1000%.
Growth may be expressed in terms of:
(i) US dollars
(ii) Local currency
- in the Country Profile section
(iii) Local Currency
Dollars (LCD)/Constant Exchange Rate
LCD growth represents average growth in sales
measured in local currencies. LCD data are calculated
by recomputing US dollar sales from local currency
using a constant exchange rate for all time periods.
The user is thus able to observe local currency
growth in international studies, but without the
influence of fluctuating exchange rates.
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EI
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The EVOLUTION INDEX
compares the growth of an element of a market
with the growth of the market in which it operates.
Calculation of EI ExampleTotal market growth 7%Therapeutic
class growth 14%(100 + 14) x 100 =106(100 + 7)
Therefore the EI of the therapeutic class in relation
to the total market is 106.An EI greater than
100 indicates above-average performance, whilst
an EI below 100 indicates below-average performance.
An EI of 100 occurs when growth in both elements
is equal.
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MARKET SHARE%
This indicates the percentage
share of a market element in relation to the market in
which it operates during the time period stated.
CORPORATE AFFILIATIONS
The corporate entity label
allows you to pinpoint the sales of any pharmaceutical
corporation. Any alterations in corporate affiliation
are implemented retroactively. Hence, the historic sales
of a newly acquired subsidiary are attributed to the new
parent company for all the time periods.
E.G. Roche acquired a 65% stake in Genentech in 1990.
Hence, 65% of Genetech's sales are attributed to Roche
and 35% to Genentech.
The treatment of joint-ventures here is that any percentage
ownership (eg 80:20, 70:30, 48:52, 50:50) is reflected
in the sales of the owning corporation. Where a company
is owned by two or more corporate groups, that company's
sales are apportioned to each of the owning corporations
according to their percentage ownership.
ANATOMICAL THERAPEUTIC CLASSIFICATION
(ATC)
The Anatomical Therapeutic
Classification, by which products are grouped according
to the part of the body they are used to treat, is now
used in IMS audits throughout the world, except in North
America. The Anatomical Therapeutic Classification of
defined and maintained by EPhMRA
INTERNATIONAL PRODUCT
The concept of the international
product was devised for IMS's international database MIDAS, to enable users
to evaluate sales of a product internationally, even if
the product is known by different names in different countries.Products
are linked internationally if at least two of the following
three characteristics are the same as in the country of
first launch:- brand name- marketing corporation- active
ingredients
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