Top Bulgarian pharma firm opens new plant

Related tags European union

Commercial League, the largest and fastest-growing pharmaceutical
group in the Balkans, has opened a new primary and secondary
packaging plant in Bulgaria to serve the domestic and, potentially,
export markets.

The company, headquartered in Sofia, said the new €15m plant would help the company boost its supplies into Bulgaria ahead of the application to join the European Union, due to take place next month. Bulgaria is expected to become a full member of the EU in the next round of accession in 2006.

The plant opening comes at a time of significant change in the Bulgarian pharmaceutical sector. During EU access talks, the country's government failed to request a transition period for re-registration of locally-made drugs when it joins the EU. This means that, after January 2007, such drugs will be banned from sale unless they are re-registered with the European Medicines Agency (EMEA).

2007 will also see the introduction of Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standards, and at the end of 2004 Bulgaria joined the European Pharmacopoeia, giving it access to much-needed pharmaceutical testing and analysis procedures to bring it into compliance with EU law.

This shake-up of the pharmaceutical market will only add to the pressure on Bulgaria ahead of accession. The country is said to have some of the highest medicine process in Europe, and spends 30 per cent of its $1bn healthcare budget - higher than most other countries in Europe - on drugs.

And last summer, Commercial League was among Bulgarian drug suppliers calling for the resignation of health minister Slavcho Bogoev, alleging that it was suffering from non-payment for drugs supplied to state hospitals.

Although known mainly as a wholesaler, Commercial League's pharmaceutical activities span manufacturing, sales and distribution, and it counts multinationals such as Pfizer, Roche, Eli Lilly, Sanofi-Aventis, AstraZeneca and Serono among its partners. It holds 42 per cent of the domestic market in Bulgaria.

The new packaging plant will allow it to deliver to any point in Bulgaria within two hours of an order being placed, and could also enhance Commercial League's ability to serve overseas markets in the future. A spokesperson for the company said that it was also eyeing acquisition opportunities outside Bulgaria, and already has affiliates in Macedonia, Switzerland and the US.

Related topics Drug Delivery Processing equipment

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