Fewer new Ozone products than expected

Dan Schiopu runs the domestic operations of the British pharmaceutical group Ozone. He says that given the market conditions, Ozone Laboratories has added another 30 products to its portfolio, below the company”s initial target.

“Consumption growth below the initially estimated level made us introduce fewer products onto the market than we”d intended. Generics consumption has not grown as much as market players had expected. The situation in 2005 was generated by the crisis, which the health care sector had to cope with,” stated Dan Schiopu, general manager of Ozone Laboratories.

The pharmaceutical company Ozone Laboratories in 2005 derived turnover topping 22.2 million euros, almost double the level registered during the previous year.

“More than half of the total sales were generated by drugs released only on the basis of a medical prescription, over-the-counter drugs, and food supplements,” stated Dan Schiopu.

The food supplement segment witnessed the fastest growth pace, of over 330%.

“The vitamins market is expanding. The public is increasingly aware of the benefits of food supplements and realises prevention is more efficient than treatment,” Schiopu also said.

The company last year carried out investments worth 5.2 million euros, of which over 3 million were spent for the development of the product portfolio and product registration in Romania, as well as on other markets in Central and Eastern Europe. The remaining 2 million euros were aimed at product promotion. Ozone Laboratories exports products to Poland and has “contract manufacturing” partnerships in place with manufacturers in Poland, Bulgaria and Hungary. The company projects investments of 5.8m euros for this year.