STA, 19 October 2019 - The Maribor-based pharma company Marifarm is gradually implementing its strategy of becoming a drug manufacturer instead of just providing drug packaging as it used to. So far, they have been manufacturing drugs for other pharmas, but Marifarm wants to enter the market with their own drugs.
The company went private to avoid bankruptcy in 2016. It was acquired by Arterium International, a company registered in Amsterdam, which invested over EUR 11 million in three years.
At the end of August, the company got new owners - the Aquer GMBH group, established in Vienna, while Arterium International remains Marifarm's strategic partner.
Marifarm administration adviser Viktor Gryban told the STA that this shift in ownership had been planned and did not change the pharma's long-term strategy of manufacturing own drugs.
The company's drugs have already been developed and are now waiting for approval from relevant authorities to enter the market - a procedure that could take between three and four years.
To follow this goal and boost its business results, Marifarm has started working for other pharmas in drug manufacturing.
The company has been so far without profit and the owners are not expecting it this year either. Last year, Marifarm generated EUR 1.7 million in revenue and over EUR 3 million in net loss.
Although still in the red, the company has been improving its results and boosting its promotion at international pharma events.
Gryban expects the company to generate almost EUR 4 million in income this year and climb out of the red next year due to possible new business contracts.
The EUR 11 million investment has gone into modernising equipment as well as hiring new employees. The company currently employs some 150 workers and is planning to raise this figure to 170 by the end of the year, according to its director Romana Fišer.
Marifarm's current production capacities are the highest ever and will continue to be expanded. The company cooperates with Slovenia's largest drug maker, Krka, as well as pharmas from Switzerland, Germany, Latvia, Ukraine and India.
