Nycomed debuts in hospital area
Valor Econômico
It is adapting the motto of Juscelino Kubitschek and inspired by the 50th anniversary of Brasilia that the CEO of the Nycomed laboratory in Brazil, Luiz Eduardo Violland, describes the plans of the company: "We'll grow 55 years in five". It is a reference to the long period, since 1954, Altana Pharma took to double in size.
In 2009, already purchased by the European company of Danish origin Nycomed, the multinational laboratory outlined the goal of growing at least 15% a year and doubling the earnings until 2014. The strategy for reaching this goal goes through acquisitions and licensing of brands of third parties, but especially for its entrance - announced this week, during the conference of the International Association for Hepato-Pancreatic Surgery - held in Buenos Aires - in the coveted hospital area.
The medicines of exclusive consumption by hospitals, a market of R$ 16 billion (US$ 8.9 billion) that includes governmental purchases and health insurances, represent nearly one third of the total earnings of the pharmaceutical industry in Brazil. Nycomed has already consolidated itself in the two other segments: prescription drugs and over-the-counter drugs (free consumption).
The first product of exclusive use in the hospital area, released during the Buenos Aires Conference, is TachoSil. Used in liver surgeries, and already widely sold in Europe with its debut in the American market scheduled for May, it is an adhesive sponge that aims at strengthening the coagulation and staunching the bleeding at the end of liver surgeries. According to the lab, there are two similar products, but of different classes and with less sophisticated technology, available on the market today.
The entrance in such segment is seen as crucial by Nycomed, since it has grown at rates near 25% a year, says Violland, and the prescription and OTC drugs grow between 10% and 12%. "Our vision of future is having 30% of our businesses coming from the hospital area", says the CEO. "We want to launch at least one item a year", complements Sandro Silva, in charge of the new division of hospital drugs.
Nycomed expects to earn R$ 500 million (US$ 277.8 million) in 2010, after taxes, in Brazil. While it begins announcing the TachoSil in the country, the company waits for the approval of the Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency) for the Instanyl, a super pain killer intended for terminal cancer patients. Because it is driven by the purchases made by the public authorities, Violland believes the hospital segment should continue growing greatly in Brazil, due to the ageing of the population, but mainly due to the investments of the State in health.
The earnings of Nycomed in the country, which has a plant in Jaguariúna (SP), shall grow 18% this year. In order to maintain such trajectory, the company has an investment plan that gets to US$ 300 million for the next five years. Besides the launchings in the exclusively hospital segment, it seeks opportunities to license brands of third parties. It also has an eye on the acquisitions of brand drugs, such as Neosaldina, purchased in 2003 from Abbot and whose sales have tripled over the past five years.