ICN Polfa Rzeszow enjoys robust sales growth in 2009, enters new markets

2010-02-24

ICN Polfa Rzeszow, the Polish subsidiary of Valeant, achieved a 22% increase in domestic sales in 2009, to $123m (€90.6m), while European sales climbed 17% to $157m (€115.6m), Mariusz Gajowniczek, the company’s CEO, revealed in an interview with Pharma Poland News. Excluding the results of Emo-Farm, a Polish dermatology firm acquired in May, domestic sales grew by a solid 15%, well ahead of the official guidance of 10% sales growth.
Mr. Gajowniczek also revealed that at the beginning of 2010 the company established a direct presence in Romania and Bulgaria, where it has already obtained marketing authorisation for 25 products (mainly Rx drugs) and initiated staff recruitment. The establishment of Valeant Romania reflected a strategic re-think after the planned acquisition of Ozone, a Romanian drug maker, fell through.
Following a three-year restructuring process, ICN Polfa Rzeszow is now the exclusive Valeant representative for the European market and the owner of Valeant subsidiaries in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and now Romania (the Bulgarian business is a branch of the Romanian one). According to the CEO, the company is eager to expand to new markets in the region and is eyeing potential takeover targets. At the same time, ICN Polfa Rzeszow plans to launch several products in new therapeutic areas and to expand its portfolio of oncological drugs.
Mr. Gajowniczek confirmed that the company was in talks with a Polish firm about acquiring rights to several Rx drugs and dermocosmetic products, but declined to give any details.
ICN Polfa Rzeszow’s main plant in Rzeszow supplies to Valeant subsidiaries across Europe as well as third party companies in e.g. the UK, Ireland, Germany, Belgium, Austria, but also Australia and the Middle East. And deliveries to Japan and Brazil are to begin in the near future, Mr. Gajowniczek said. The current output of ICN Polfa Rzeszow is approx. 60 million packets per year.