Gedeon Richter, Hungary's largest drugmaker, will this year invest another 4 million dollars in Romania, in a new assembling line at its Targu-Mures-based plant and in expanding the centre for new drug development, said Valeria Dan, general manager of Gedeon Richter Romania SA.
Gedeon Richter started production in Romania in 1998, after it acquired Targu-Mures-based Armedica plant. According to Gedeon Richter representatives, the group has so far invested 20 million dollars in the plant's modernisation and expansion.
Out of the total investments, almost 13 million dollars were destined to the production process, mainly to achieving compliance with GMP standards, while 2.8 million dollars were earmarked for the infrastructure development.
Gedeon Richter representatives said the group planned to develop, in Targu-Mures, the company's main research centre in Europe.
'We are targeting the development of 3-5 new products every year," stated Erik Bogsch, general manager of Gedeon Richter. "I believe we will post speedier growth in Romania as compared to Hungary, for the development of new products," he added. Bogsch grounded the decision to develop a research centre in Romania on the skills of Romanian workers, who benefited from sound training in this field.
So far, Gedeon Richter has been operating in Romania through two companies: one that used to import drugs made by the group in Hungary, and the other one, Armedica, producing drugs.
In 2003, the group merged the two companies, with the newly-established entity called Gedeon Richter Romania SA. At present, Richter group holds 98.46% in Gedeon Richter Romania SA. The rest of shareholders are natural persons.
The plant in Targu-Mures was the first production capacity acquired by Gedeon Richter in Eastern Europe, based on geographical proximity and market potential criteria.
Plants in Poland, Russia and Ukraine followed. The plant in Targu-Mures is however the only one, outside Hungarian borders, to operate in research and development. R&D expenses do not account however for more than 5% of the total costs of the Romanian company, according to Erik Bogsch. At present, less than 5% of the pharmaceutical group's total production is derived from the Romanian plant.
ioana.leaua@zf.ro
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