The ten largest pharmaceutical producers on the Romanian market recorded a total turnover of over EUR500 million last year, slightly up from 2011, shows a ZF estimate based on information from the Trade Registry.
The fight at the top of producers’ ranking was extremely tight in 2012, considering that the difference between the leader (Terapia Ranbaxy) and the second-ranked Europharm was just EUR1.8 million.
The largest producer on the Romanian market remained Terapia Ranbaxy, while the second-ranked was Europharm plant in Brasov, held by UK’s GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). The only producer with Romanian shareholders in the top ten is Antibiotice, held by the Health Ministry, with a turnover of EUR68.4 million.
Last week, UK pharmaceutical group GlaxoSmithKline announced its intention to close down the Europharm plant in Brasov unless it finds a buyer within six months. The reason for the closure is production overcapacity at group level, GSK said. The announcement was a surprise as teh UK group planned four years ago to make Romania into a EUR300 million export base. Even more recently GSK was speaking optimistically about the plant’s export activity.
“We are concerned to see a producer closing down. I am sure Romania remains interesting for investments in this sector, considering that labor is three-four times cheaper than in other countries with tradition,” says Ioan Nani, general manager of Antibiotice Iasi.
He says the closure of the Brasov plant will not have an impact on the Romanian market because it was mainly an exporter.
Drug sales in Romania amounted to EUR2.6 billion last year.
“It is a pity that Romania has not managed to create a better environment for the chemical industry,” says Dragos Damian, CEO of Terapia Ranbaxy.
At present there are over 20 drug manufacturers in Romania and only one new investment in production is planned: drug wholesaler Polisano, held by businessman Ilie Vonica, is investing 53 million lei (EUR12 million) in a production facility for cancer drugs.
(English version by Daniela Stoican)