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Frankfurt / Main (dpa) - Because people keep their distance in Corona times and are less likely to catch cold, the sale of non-prescription drugs in Germany has plummeted.
Bayer boss Werner Baumann mentions a market minus of over 20 percent for cold preparations last year - this development also affects his company.
Procter & Gamble, Stada and Sanofi also reported losses without specifying this with figures.
The companies are known for products such as “Wick”, “Grippostad”, “Mucosolvan” and “Alka-Seltzer Plus”.
The pharmacies in Germany also felt the effects of the drop in demand.
The pharmacists' association ABDA informed the German Press Agency that sales of over-the-counter medicines for cold, diarrhea and lice medicines had fallen significantly in the first three quarters of 2020.
The association referred to data from the market researcher Insight Health.
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According to the data, around 15 million packs of diarrhea medication were in demand in the first nine months of previous years - in 2020 it was just under 12 million, i.e. a fifth less.
There were also declines in cold medicines: while pharmacy customers normally asked for almost 150 million medicines in the first three quarters, in 2020 the figure was just under 130 million.
In the case of lice remedies, sales have also almost halved from around two million to 1.2 million drugs.
The numbers include the local pharmacy business and mail order business.
"Compliance with the distance and hygiene rules in the corona pandemic probably led to a decrease in infections in the area of diarrhea and colds," said the ABDA.
In addition, due to the AHA rules (distance, hygiene, everyday mask), a decrease in the transmission of parasites such as lice can be assumed.
The pandemic with lockdowns and contact restrictions caused an ups and downs in demand in pharmacies.
Disinfectants were in great demand.
"But they weren't a big sales driver for pharmacies," said an ABDA spokesman.
The rush for medical masks is not yet reflected in the numbers for 2020.
Complete sales and sales figures for the pharmacies for the entire past year were not yet available.
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The pharmacies in Germany had a turnover of more than 54 billion euros in 2019, the majority with prescription drugs.
The number of pharmacies in this country has been falling significantly for years.
At the end of 2020 it was 18,753.
From an economic point of view, however, the corona restrictions not only had negative, but also positive consequences for the drug manufacturers.
Because the demand for food supplements increased - for example for vitamin tablets to strengthen the immune system.
This business has "benefited a lot" from the corona situation, says Bayer boss Baumann.
Procter & Gamble also sees an increasing interest in dietary supplements.
"We have observed a clear trend towards active preventive health care," said the company.
"Many people have become aware of the influence they can have on their own health."
In the coming months, the number of colds is likely to remain relatively low, also due to the weather.
The cold season will probably start again in autumn - and the drug manufacturers and pharmacies could cash in again.
In addition, the distance rules and contact restrictions will probably be relaxed significantly in the next few months.
"In our estimation, sales of products against flu and colds will rise again seasonally as soon as people return to a certain normalcy," says Stada.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210308-99-730998 / 3