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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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