Economic impact of COVID-19 on Red Farmacys pharmaceutical franchises: analysis of effects and recovery strategies

Authors

Keywords:

COVID-19; ECONOMÍA FARMACÉUTICA; INDUSTRIA FARMACÉUTICA; MERCADO DE TRABAJO.; COVID-19; ECONOMICS, PHARMACEUTICAL; DRUG INDUSTRY; JOB MARKET. ; COVID-19; FARMACOECONOMIA; INDÚSTRIA FARMACÊUTICA; MERCADO DE TRABALHO.

Abstract

Introduction: COVID-19 pandemic generated economic repercussions across multiple sectors, including the pharmaceutical industry, where the high demand for products altered commercial dynamics and business sustainability.

Objective: to evaluate the economic impact of COVID-19 on Red Farmacys pharmaceutical franchises in Santo Domingo, Ecuador, and to describe the recovery strategies implemented.

Methods: an observational, descriptive, cross-sectional study with a mixed approach was conducted. The sample included 16 pharmacies selected by convenience. Questionnaires were applied over 30 days, addressing dimensions of biosafety, sales, and financing. Data were processed in Microsoft Excel, respecting ethical principles of confidentiality.

Results: 81,3 % of pharmacies reported an increase in sales, mainly of face masks and antivirals. The national pharmaceutical sector registered a growth of 266 million dollars compared to 2019. However, market saturation was evident due to the proliferation of pharmacies in urban areas. Regarding financing, 62,5 % accessed loans from cooperatives and 31,2 % from private banks, with amounts ranging between 4,000 and 10,000 dollars. All pharmacies implemented biosafety measures for their workers.

Conclusions: COVID-19 drove significant economic growth in pharmacies, although it also led to market saturation and sustainability challenges. Biosafety and financing strategies allowed operations to continue, but differentiation and long-term planning are required to ensure business viability in a competitive environment.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

1. Araque W. Impacto del COVID-19 en las Mipymes y Emprendedores. Observatorio Pyme [Internet]. Ecuador: Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar; 2020 [Citado 20/10/2025]. Disponible en: https://www.uasb.edu.ec/impacto-del-covid-19-en-las-mipyme-y-emprendedores-id3058222/

2. Sacyl. Nuevo Coronavirus (COVID-19): recursos y evidencia científica [Internet]. Sacyl; 2020 [Citado 20/10/2025]. Disponible en: https://www.saludcastillayleon.es/institucion/es/biblioteca/noticias/nuevo-coronavirus-covid-19-recursos-evidencia-cientifica

3. Bai Y, Yao L, Wei T, Tian F, Jin DY, Chen L, et al. Presumed Asymptomatic Carrier Transmission of COVID-19. JAMA [Internet]. 2020 Apr 14 [Citado 20/10/2025]; 323(14): 1406-1407. Disponible en: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32083643/

4. Di Pasquale G. Coronavirus COVID-19: quali implicazioni per la Cardiologia? [COVID-19 coronavirus: what implications for Cardiology?]. G Ital Cardiol (Rome) [Internet]. 2020 Apr [Citado 20/10/2025]; 21(4): 243-245. Disponible en: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32202553/

5. Wallace A. El coronavirus en América Latina: así avanza la pandemia de covid-19 en la región [Internet]. BBC News Mundo; 03 de Abril de 2020 [Citado 20/10/2025]. Disponible en: https://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias-america-latina-52131238

6. ISGlobal. COVID-19: Novedades científicas [Internet]. Instituto de Salud Global de Barcelona; 2022 [Citado 20/10/2025]. Disponible en: https://www.isglobal.org/covid-19-novedades-cientificas

7. Larivière V, Shu F, Sugimoto C. El brote de coronavirus (COVID-19) resalta serias deficiencias en la comunicación científica [Publicado originalmente en el LSE Impact Blog en marzo/2020] [Internet]. SciELO en Perspectiva; 2020 [Citado 20/10/2025]. Disponible en: https://blog.scielo.org/es/2020/03/12/el-brote-de-coronavirus-covid-19-resalta-serias-deficiencias-en-la-comunicacion-cientifica/

8. Sánchez V. FMI: el Covid-19 llevará a la peor recesión global desde 1929 [Internet]. France 24; 2020 [Citado 20/10/2025]. Disponible en: https://www.france24.com/es/20200409-fmi-covid19-peor-recesion-global-1929

9. Fariza I. El Banco Mundial proyecta una caída del PIB del 4,6 % en América Latina, la mayor desde que hay registros [Internet]. El País; 2020 [Citado 20/10/2025]. Disponible en: https://elpais.com/economia/2020-04-12/el-banco-mundial-proyecta-un-caida-del-pib-del-46-en-america-latina-la-mayor-desde-que-hay-registros.html

10. El Comercio. Coronavirus en Ecuador: Un ABC de la cuarentena, restricciones, teletrabajo [Internet]. El Comercio; 2020 [Citado 20/10/2025]. Disponible en: https://www.elcomercio.com/actualidad/coronavirus-cuarentena-ecuador-teletrabajo-salvoconductos.html

11. Ramos Díaz RF. El sector farmacéutico: Eficiencia, rentabilidad y Covid-19 [Tesis]. UNED. Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia; 2023 [Citado 20/10/2025]. Disponible en: https://portalcientifico.uned.es/documentos/64909b72b3f88a20d6967564

12. Pavón Garrido P. "Impacto Del COVID-19 En El Sector Farmacéutico Ecuatoriano: Desregulación De Precios Techo En Fármacos OTC," X-pedientes_Económicos [Internet]. 2021 Apr [Citado 20/10/2025]; 5(13): 43-67. Disponible en: https://ideas.repec.org/a/xpe/journl/v5y2021i13p43-67.html

13. Coba G. La venta de productos farmacéuticos crece un 7% por la pandemia [Internet]. Primicias; 2020 [Citado 20/10/2025]. Disponible en: https://www.primicias.ec/noticias/economia/venta-medicamentos-ecuador-crecimiento-2020/

14. Celi E. Entre USD 10 y USD 35 cuestan las pruebas rápidas que compra el sector público [Internet]. Primicias; 2020 [Citado 20/10/2025]. Disponible en: https://www.primicias.ec/noticias/sociedad/precios-pruebas-rapidas-compra-sector-publico/

Downloads

Published

2025-12-31

How to Cite

1.
Almeida Blacio JH, Mayorga-Díaz MP, Naranjo-Armijo FG. Economic impact of COVID-19 on Red Farmacys pharmaceutical franchises: analysis of effects and recovery strategies. Rev Ciencias Médicas [Internet]. 2025 Dec. 31 [cited 2026 Apr. 20];29(supl2):e7082. Available from: https://revcmpinar.sld.cu/index.php/publicaciones/article/view/7082

Issue

Vol. 29 No. supl2 (2025): Suplemento 2

Section

BRIEF COMMUNICATION

License

Copyright (c) 2025 Jorge Hernán Almeida Blacio

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Authors who have publications with this journal agree to the following terms: Authors will retain their copyrights and grant the journal the right of first publication of their work, which will be publication of their work, which will be simultaneously subject to the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY-NC 4.0) that allows third parties to share the work as long as its author and first publication in this journal are indicated.

Authors may adopt other non-exclusive license agreements for distribution of the published version of the work (e.g.: deposit it in an institutional telematic archive or publish it in a volume). Likewise, and according to the recommendations of the Medical Sciences Editorial (ECIMED), authors must declare in each article their contribution according to the CRediT taxonomy (contributor roles). This taxonomy includes 14 roles, which can be used to represent the tasks typically performed by contributors in scientific academic production. It should be consulted in monograph) whenever initial publication in this journal is indicated. Authors are allowed and encouraged to disseminate their work through the Internet (e.g., in institutional telematic archives or on their web page) before and during the submission process, which may produce interesting exchanges and increase citations of the published work. (See The effect of open access). https://casrai.org/credit/