Exports of drugs skyrocketed after 2007, when parallel drug trade became possible, reaching about EUR800 million, ten times higher than in 2006.
These are the first figures about the drug exports in 2016, a year that saw a shortage of products in local pharmacies especially towards the end. Based on ZF estimates using market data, the drugs made in Romania in 2016 in plants like Sindan, Zentiva, Terapia and Antibiotice are worth EUR100 million to EUR150 million. The rest up to EUR725 million are parallel exports, a form of trade whereby drugs imported into Romania are resold in other countries.
Terapia Cluj plant exported EUR25 million worth in 2016 and is the only top company to have revealed last year’s export value. Terapia ranks sixth among exporters.
“It is increasingly difficult to export because destination countries are using protectionism to support their local industry – which is hardly surprising, only that, surprisingly, in Romania, plants are being closed or companies resort to furlough,” said Dragos Damian, chief executive officer of Terapia Cluj.
Second leading exporter is Mediplus, the largest pharmaceutical wholesaler in Romania, part of the A&D Pharma group, which ranks 179th in the overall ranking. A&D Pharma officials say the revenue of Mediplus stood at EUR888 million last year, but did not specify how much of that came from exports.
“The A&D Pharma group, which includes Mediplus, is the largest logistics and commercial hub for the Central and Eastern European region, supplying all the countries where the group has had a presence since 2008 with pharmaceutical and parapharmaceutical products delivered from the National Logistics Center in Bucharest. This helped put Mediplus among the top 500 exporters in Romania.”
Eleven pharmaceutical companies are among Romania’s top 500 exporters and four of them are wholesalers, two are fiscal entities of international giants, while five more are pharmaceutical manufacturers.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)