Private joint-stock company Farmak (Kyiv), the pharmaceutical company, did not halt production and will gradually exit lockdown, the press service of the company has told Interfax-Ukraine.
“Farmak continues production as usual. All lines are working as planned. However, after lockdown was announced all over the country on March 12 and the Health Ministry recommended that enterprises transfer employees to remote work, if possible, Farmak transferred some employees to remote work,” the company said.
According to the company, in particular, within the framework of lockdown restrictions introduced in the country, the sanitary regime was tightened to provide additional protection for workers, members of their families and to prevent the spread of coronavirus disease COVID-10, and a reserve of disinfection and personal protective equipment was created.
The company also developed an algorithm of actions and escort routes for people with signs of ARVI, limited mass meetings, replacing them with remote meetings, suspended business trips of employees abroad, and limited business trips within Ukraine.
Workers who returned from abroad starting March 16, switched to telework for 14 days,” the company said.
During lockdown, to ensure uninterrupted operation, Farmak developed routes and a schedule for centralized transportation of employees from their places of residence at 5.45 a.m., and a carsharing group was created to deliver employees to the office.
The press service of Farmak noted an increased demand for medicines manufactured by the company.
“Production is responding to increased demand. Our mission is to make affordable and effective medicines available for treatment, so we quickly adapt to changing market needs. For example, Farmak produces medicines (Amizon, Nazoferon, Gropivirin, Pelorsin) that can be used to treat and prevent influenza and ARVI,” the company said.
PJSC Farmak, a Ukrainian pharmaceutical manufacturer, in 2019 received a net profit of about UAH 1.056 billion, which almost coincides with the indicator of 2018 (UAH 1.05 billion), the company said in the information disclosure system of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission.
Earlier it was reported that the company’s assets for the year increased by 12.3%, to UAH 6.657 billion.
The company plans to pay UAH 100 million in dividends.
In 2018, Farmak increased its net profit by 25.16% compared to 2017, to UAH 1.05 billion.
Farmak is a manufacturer of medicines of the European level, a leader in the pharmaceutical market of Ukraine in terms of sales. It exports products to 20 countries. It is a member of the Manufacturers of Medications of Ukraine association.
According to the state register, the ultimate beneficial owner of PJSC Farmak is the head of the supervisory board, Filia Zhebrovska, who owns 80% of the company.
Farmak pharmaceutical company (Kyiv) plans to invest UAH 1.2 billion in production development in 2020, which is 30% more than last year, and also increase the number of staff. According to the company’s press service, with reference to executive director of Farmak Volodymyr Kostiuk, in 2019 investments for these purposes amounted to UAH 900 million.
“In 2019, we invested about UAH 900 million in the development of production, in 2020 we plan to invest UAH 1.2 billion. The expansion of production leads to an increase in the number of personnel,” he said.
According to Kostiuk, the issue of personnel remains acute for the company.
“We create the most comfortable working conditions for specialists and provide competitive wages. Today we compete with European companies in terms of wages in relation to the average check in a particular country. In 2019, wages at Farmak increased by 14%,” he said.
The top manager also said that in 2019 Farmak expanded its cold, allergological, neurological, gastroenterological product portfolios and is working on complex drugs that it plans to bring to the market in 10-15 years.
The main areas remain cold, endocrinological, gastroenterological, cardiological, neurological portfolios.
Farmak pharmaceutical company (Kyiv) will expand its focus to the development of products, which could be presented on global markets, Farmak CEO Volodymyr Kostiuk has said. “In development, we are now focusing on well-regulated markets. The molecules we are developing will be interesting for the global market,” he told Interfax-Ukraine on the sidelines of the Ukrainian Pharmaceutical Forum organized by Adam Smith Conferences in Kyiv.
Kostiuk said that the new molecules, which are developed by scientists of Farmak, “are complex medicines, they will require large investments in development, great knowledge.”
He said that Farmak will continue its strategy of launching at least 20 new products per year on the market, and in the coming years it will be drugs which patent protection expires.
According to him, these are drugs based on 118 molecules.
Kostiuk also said that Farmak plans to increase its export share to 40%.
PJSC Farmak is one of the three leaders in the pharmaceutical industry of Ukraine. It is a member of the Association Manufacturers of Medications of Ukraine (AMMU). The beneficiary of the company is the head of the supervisory board, Filia Zhebrovska.
Farmak pharmaceutical company (Kyiv) is conducting pharmaceutical studies of medicines, which were manufactured by the company, in the United States and EU member states, chief scientific consultant at JSC Farmak (Ukraine) Viktor Marhitych said at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine. “We are conducting a series of bioequivalence studies in the EU. We have very good generics. Their conformity is confirmed by bioequivalence studies in good clinics and laboratories. This is an important area of work that Farmak is doing,” he said.
According to the expert, soon a full research program will be soon completed for the Amizon preparation.
“This is so far our only original molecule, which we are developing according to the full program for original medicines. Over time, the drug research program should be fully implemented, the third phase of research should be completed, after which it will be possible to submit the drug for registration,” Marhitych said.
He said that huge investments are needed for the third phase of drug research.
“The third phase is hundreds of millions of dollars. We will consider how to attract such investments. Our founder, Filia Zhebrovska, said that the drug [Amizon], which is the best seller on the market, should be safe and effective. And we can confirm that the drug is safe and effective, and provide evidence, some of which are published, and another will be published,” the expert said.
In turn, the experts who conducted the research on the drug, in particular, Senior Researcher, Ph.D., at Research Institute of University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign (Chicago, U.S.) David Boltz; Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Director of the Global Health & Emerging Pathogens Institute at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York Adolfo Garcia-Sastre; group leader, Ph.D., University of Cambridge (Cambridge, UK) Aartyan te Veltuis and Regents Distinguished Professor & KBA Eminent Scholar, Ph.D., Diagnostic Medicine Pathobiology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS Jürgen A. Richt said that cooperation with Farmak started back in the 1990s. According to them, the drug itself is tested “for effectiveness on dozens of strains of viruses, it is proved that it is a powerful antiviral agent.”
Private joint-stock company Farmak, a pharmaceutical company from Kyiv, is mulling a possibility of exporting own substances to the countries of the European Union (EU), Farmak Chief Operating Officer Pavlo Pavlyk has said.
“There are a number of projects with European companies. There are a number of orders. We are now looking at innovative substances in order to develop and produce them for the EU countries,” he told reporters on Monday.
Pavlyk also said that in May-June 2020, Farmak expects an FDA inspection, which will allow the company to supply drugs to the U.S. market.
Farmak is one of the three leaders of the pharmaceutical industry of Ukraine. It is a member of the Association Manufacturers of Medications of Ukraine (AMMU). The company’s beneficiary is head of the supervisory board Filia Zhebrovska.
