Ozone Laboratories triples medicine business

British company Ozone Laboratories estimates its Romanian branch will make approximately 13 million euros in turnover this year, nearly three times that of 2003.

The increase in sales comes as the result of the expansion policy Ozone has applied on the drug market in form of partnerships with the Romanian producers Mark International Iasi and Fabiol Bucharest. Ozone decided to subcontract its manufacturing to other companies, an option that requires lower investment and produces higher yields, Dan Schiopu, Ozone Laboratories Romania chief executive, said.

Ozone’s turnover grew by 247% to 5.2 million euros in the first half of the year, compared with the same period last year. Net profits for the same period rose 29%.

Fabiol Bucharest is currently installing a complete assembly line, and a new granulating and pilling line is to become operational by the end of the year. The investment forms part of the investment plan announced by the company, which has a value of 16 million euros and will be used for the purchasing of new equipment, upgrading production lines and obtaining Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) certifications. The programme began with a 2 million-euro investment that helped Ozone’s Romanian partners obtain the GMP standards that became mandatory early this year.

Ozone Laboratories is active on the market for generic drugs and parapharmaceutical products (patches, bandages, syringes etc.). It has also established a strong presence in nutritional supplements (multivitamins and minerals), a market segment as yet untouched by many producers. “The nutritional supplements market is an undersized market and product consumption against the number of consumers is much lower than the average for western countries,” Schiopu said.

According to Schiopu, the nutritional supplement market segment has high growth potential, and Ozone has made expansion on this market a top priority. Besides nutritional supplements, Ozone has a portfolio of 40 drugs in Romania. For its drug distribution, Ozone has entered into partnership with Mediplus, a member of the A&D Pharma Group.
alexandru.cerchez@zf.ro