The sales of medicines in Romania reached a total of RON 21 billion (EUR 4.24 bln) in 2021, up 17% from the previous year, according to data from market research company Cegedim. The rise comes after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic barred access to hospitals for Romanians with other health problems than Covid-19 during 2020, especially during the lockdown period. In volume terms, however, the market developed slower, the number of boxes rising by only 5%. Thus, the volume of medicines used last year was 658 million boxes, Ziarul Financiar reported. The most common drugs in 2021 were those for the digestive system, with over 152 million boxes reaching patients in this segment. They were closely followed by the drugs for cardiovascular disease, with 148 million boxes sold last year. The largest companies by value in 2021 were Sanofi, Novartis and Zentiva. In volume, two companies with local factories are in the first two positions - Zentiva and Sun Pharma (Terapia Cluj).