Each of the four owns 25% in the company, which has 20 products in its portfolio and expects revenue of EUR2 million this year.
“It’s one thing to work in a company with clearly set procedures and another one to feel the need to start something new, with new concepts and to go in another direction. Evolution means exiting the comfort zone,” says Alin Iosep.
Alin Iosep, 44, is also a stakeholder with a 49% interest in ADM Farm, a drug wholesaler with revenue of around EUR200 million. At present, Alin Iosep says he’s no longer involved in the management of ADM Farm and he wants to develop the Pharmalink business, which started from the idea of developing services connected to drug distribution.
Pharmalink’s expenditure budget stands at 250,000 lei (EUR56,000) per month, from own funds. In late 2014, the company should break even.
Pharmalink employs 30 people, focusing on promoting drugs by phone, but also operates sales and classical marketing services.
Dan Nicolescu gained experience in opening and running pharmaceutical and cosmetic retail operations, while Dragos Popescu worked for 19 years in pharmaceutical multinational companies.
Octavian Iacob, 40, previously chief executive officer of ADM Farm and Farmexpert, says promotion by phone is more efficient as a representative can talk with 100 doctors per day, while a medical representative can only visit 10 doctors per day.
On the medium term, of between three and five years, the company expects to reach EUR10 million. It currently promotes products of Polpharma (Poland), Sensilab (Slovenia), Alkaloid (Macedonia).
“There’s room to develop such a business in Romania. I believe businesses can be grown even during this crisis period in Romania,” said Octavian Iacob.
Drug marketing and sale outsourcing is not an unusual practice in the pharmaceutical industry and is used by companies wanting to test the market before entering directly or at the moment they want to focus on other portfolios.
(English version by Catalina Apostoiu)