Croatia
Croatia is a country at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe on the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro to the southeast, and shares a maritime border with Italy to the west and southwest. Croatia has been a member of the European union since 2013 and is classified by the World Bank as a high-income economy that ranks very high on the Human Development Index. Croatia is a democratic republic with legislative power represented by a Parliament. The official language is Croatian, however, Italian, Hungarian, Czech, Slovak, and Serbian are recognized as co-official languages and accordingly protected in their residential municipalities.
Healthcare budget
$9.6 billion
Inhabitants
4.1 million
GDP per capita
$15.906
Currency
HRK (1 HRK = 0,13 euro)
World Ranking
GDP 75th
Croatian Healthcare
Healthcare spending in Croatia is below EU average, at 6.8% of GDP (vs. EU average 9.8%).
The Croatian Health Insurance Fund (HZZO) provides compulsory health insurance to all citizens. All newly hired employees must be registered with the HZZO by the employer. Dependent family members are covered by the employed family members. Self-employed people must contribute a fixed proportion of their after-tax income. The state fund covers fully most medical services (treatments, prescription drugs, hospitalization, etc.).
Croatia’sPharmaceutical environment
In 2020 the pharmaceutical market in Croatia was worth 1.13 million EUR (+8.2% vs. 2019).
The Croatian drug reimbursement system is based on reference pricing which requires the average price from a reference basket consisting of Slovenia, Italy, and the Czech Republic. In the case that one of those prices are not available Spain and France are also added to the basket.
Croatia is home to internationally well-established generic drug companies, Jadran Galenski (Rijeka), Belupo (Koprivnica) and Pliva (Zagreb) which was acquired by Barr in 2007 and subsequently by Teva. Croatian citizens enjoy access to mst of innovative medicines and orphan drugs.
Today’s challenges
The healthcare budget is under pressure due to the ageing population, increased use of medicines and introduction of new medicines.
There is an ongoing shortage of healthcare professionals in the country, especially on the level of general practitioners and nurses.
The expert in Croatia
Jiri Hermanek
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Services
Sales and Marketing
Entering the European market is not easy. 44 countries with different healthcare systems. What is your strategy? Apart from the Big-5, what do you do with the other 28 countries? We offer a solution for 28 countries. Sales and marketing is our core business.
Learn moreDistribution
We manage, through our logistic partners with their regional warehouses, the distribution to our region (28 countries). They have the capability to handle the most demanding of specialized product order management, storage, handling and distribution requirements.
Learn moreEarly Market Research
You know that market research is critical. It provides customer insights, competitive intelligence, behavioural tendencies, and product positioning. And market research increasingly is becoming an important component for linking R&D and marketing teams.
Learn moreMarket Access
Achieving reimbursement and getting the right price are the 2 most important drivers for a successful launch of an innovative pharmaceuticals in our part of Europe. Health Authorities in any European country decide individually based on their local regulations, policies, framework, social values and available health care budget.
Learn moreMarket Authorisation
Unlike other regions, in the EU a number of options is available to obtain a marketing authorisation. Centralised at the European Medicines Agency in Amsterdam or decentralised with the individual competent authorities of the member states, each marketing authorisation application procedure has its pros and cons. In the case of Switzerland, it has its own regulatory authority, Swissmedic, and processes.
Learn morePharmacovigilance
Pharmacovigilance is the science and activities relating to the detection, assessment, understanding and prevention of adverse effects or any other medicine-related problem.
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