Antibiotice budgets 10% rise after decline in 2008

Antibiotice Iasi, the third largest drugmaker on the Romanian market, expects to see a 10% turnover increase and a 15% gross profit increase this year, after its main indicators reported declines in 2008. A 10% turnover increase would see the company’s business amount to 237.4 million RON (59 million euros). “First of all, we will be more focused on our marketing and sales activity, especially on the cardiovascular and anti-infectious therapeutic areas, which will see new products launched this year. We have also added staff to our marketing and sales team, who deal with these particular areas,” Coca Cascaval, general manager of Antibiotice Iasi, told ZF. Last year, the Iasi-based manufacturer posted a 215.8 million-RON (58.64 million-euro turnover), down 6% against the 229.4 million-RON (68.7 million-euro) recorded in 2007. Its net profit amounted to 10.17 million RON (2.76 million euros), down 68.6% against 2007. “There were several factors which affected our results. First of all, there was a freezing of drug prices for 2008 as a whole, whereas our budget was built based on a quarterly adjustment. Secondly, we were affected by the shift to brand name prescription in April,” Coca Cascaval added.