Posted in Press

The historic pharmaceutical company FARAN is one of the fastest growing companies in the industry, recording an impressive increase in turnover, as Marios Katsikas, President & CEO of FARAN, tells us, answering the first question about the company’s course:

In 2022, we are running with a 30% increase, which is impressive, but it becomes even more impressive if you consider that in the previous two years, we had an increase of 40% in 2020 and over 2o% in 2021. We grow rapidly because we invest and expand.

How Did you Achieve This?

Expanding our portfolio mainly, being aware of the needs of the market and searching and choosing the right products. Our business plan includes branded generics of the company, as well as important original products from international firms. Thus, in addition to the fields of Oncology, Hematology, Nephrology, Orthopedics, Rheumatology, Endocrinology, and Pathology, in 2022 the company expands to Cardiology and Gynecology and IVF.

More Specifically?

Starting from cardiology, we are now dynamically entering this field as well, strengthening our therapeutic portfolio. We now represent and start offering from October, five classic and tested original pharmaceutical preparations, well known to cardiologists, that cover a variety of therapeutic needs of patients with cardiovascular diseases in our country. We will now have these exclusively, thanks to agreements that we have reached.

Add to this that FARAN has since 2021 entered into an exclusive partnership with the biopharmaceutical company Quantum Genomics, for the development and distribution of an innovative pharmaceutical preparation for the treatment of resistant hypertension and heart failure. This is a very large and important investment of the company in the research &development of innovative pharmaceutical products and is unique for the Greek standards

For Gynaecology?

In 2022, we closed agreements with the Swiss IBSA and the French BESIN, large companies in the field of gynecology and assisted reproduction. So we are also in the field of assisted reproduction in an integrated way, covering women who face conception difficulties. In other words, we also have products for the stage of stimulation, ie. gonadotropins, and for the luteal phase support stage – where progesterone is used.

Are There Other Agreements in Your Future Plans?

Yes, but it is too early to talk about them. What I mentioned before is just the beginning of a series of FARAN collaborations that will follow. At the same time, we are constantly alert to opportunities that may arise. Our collaborations with companies such as NOVARTIS, SANDOZ, IBSA, BESIN, STADA, MEIJI, PHARMANOVIA, are not accidental and give a mark of how we move. We have earned the trust of several distinguished international firms and this is a springboard for further development.

Speaking of Growth and Excellent Turnovers, Is There Also Consistent Profitability?

Now you’re scratching wounds! We are the country with the cheapest drugs in the Western world and the unbearable policies of high clawbacks and rebates are still being imposed. This breaks up the market and acts as a brake on Greek companies that do not have the support of large multinationals behind them and are struggling to survive with their own means and capital. We have a voracious state that has been vindicated by the memorandum measures of clawback and rebate and said to extend it until 2024. I stress that this at the end of the day is taxation! And you know now this reaches and exceeds 60% for pharmaceutical companies while the rest of the companies are taxed at 22%. And let them say that they will reduce the clawback they receive from elsewhere through negotiation.

So Let’s Stay on the Positive Side With the Expansion and Evolution for a Name With a History Such As FARAN’s…

Yes, the name FARAN is one of the most historic in the field of medicine in Greece. We have “deep roots” – from the 50s – in the past of the Greek pharmaceutical industry and we have the satisfaction of living in recent years a bright “youth” I would say. There is excellent human resources, we record significant performance, our strategic choices have been vindicated and ultimately the products we offer have won the trust of the scientific and medical community. We will continue to strengthen this trust with proven solutions of high quality, significant therapeutic value, and evidence-based Safety. And this is our most basic and non-negotiable business goal.