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.
The National Anticorruption Center of the Republic of Moldova has denied information spread by a number of mass media about the opening of criminal proceedings against Farmak pharmaceutical company (Kyiv) in connection with its participation in tenders for the purchase of insulin. The press service of the company said, with reference to official information from the Moldovan agency, no criminal proceedings were opened against Farmak in connection with its participation in public tenders in Moldova on November 30, 2018 for the purchase of insulin analogues in the framework of the National Program for Diabetes Prevention and Treatment for 2019.
Farmak called on all media that disseminated false information about its participation in criminal proceedings in the Republic of Moldova with a request to refute this information as false and harmful to the business reputation of the company, the statement said. In addition, the company asked mass media representatives to always contact it for official comments to verify any information about Farmak.
PJSC Farmak is one of the three leaders in the pharmaceutical industry of Ukraine. It is a member of the Manufacturers of Medications of Ukraine Association. The beneficiary of the company is head of the supervisory board Filia Zhebrovska.
JSC Farmak pharmaceutical company (Kyiv) at the end of June 2019 received two new GMP (good manufacturing practice) certificates for two production sites and a new storage area commissioned at the beginning of the current year from the Polish regulatory authority, the press service of the company has said. According to the report, these sites have undergone planned recertification and confirmed their compliance with the EU’s GMP requirements.
The company passed state recertification conducted by the regulatory authorities of Ukraine and Poland in March of the current year. In particular, the company passed a GMP recertification by the State Service of Ukraine on Medicines and Drugs Control and a planned recertification of production sites, where products for the Polish market are manufactured, on the part of the Chief Pharmaceutical Inspectorate of Poland. According to the results of inspections, 19 production sites received national GMP certificates, and two more production and storage areas received European GMP certificates.
“This once again proves that the conditions in which Farmak products are manufactured comply with the European requirements. Today, all finished drug manufacturing facilities have national GMP certificates, 14 of them are certified by European regulatory authorities in Croatia and Poland. No one pharmaceutical company in Ukraine has such a level of European recognition,” Olha Oleksiychuk, the director for quality at Farmak, said.
PJSC Farmak pharmaceutical company (Kyiv) has raised a five-year loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in the amount of EUR 15 million (equivalent of UAH 427.838 million). An Interfax-Ukraine correspondent has reported that the loan agreement was signed between the bank and the pharmaceutical producer on Tuesday.
Farmak Executive Director Volodymyr Kostiuk said that the company has raised around EUR 72 million from the EBRD since 2006. “The EBRD is our strategic partner, we will continue working with it,” he said.
Kostiuk said that the attracted funds are intended to expand production at the Farmak’s facility in Kyiv.
“We want to develop and conquer new markets, but today we do not have enough production capacity, so the expansion of production is very important for us,” he said.
The borrowed funds will be sent, in particular, to finance the expansion of production facilities, and the construction of a new laboratory and production complex.
The book of records of Ukraine has declared Corvalol medicine made by PJSC Farmak (Kyiv) the most famous sedative on the country’s market. Head of the supervisory board of the company Filia Zhebrovska said at the award ceremony said that Corvalol, developed in 1959 by scientists of Lomonosov Kyiv Chemical and Pharmaceutical Plant, and Farmak has been a legal successor of it since 1991, is being produced at Farmak in line with all European standards.
She said that Farmak produces Corvalol in a closed cycle from the synthesis of a substance to the production of finished dosage forms and guarantees its quality at every stage of production.
In turn, Executive Director Volodymyr Kostiuk said that with the development of pharmaceutical manufacturing technology, Farmak will also improve the production technology of Corvalol and expand the line of ready-made forms of the drug. In particular, at present the drug is marketed in the form of drops, tablets and soft capsules.
“By our example, we will show that modern pharmaceutical production exists in Ukraine. Even the old Soviet Corvalol today is not the same as it was 60 years ago. Now it is produced using modern equipment, manufactured according to all standards of Ukraine, Europe and the United States. Unfortunately, I cannot say this about our rivals, who do not care about quality but occupy the market. I hope the situation will improve in the near future,” he said.
Currently, Farmak has a number of drugs, the production of which in a closed cycle was started by the Lomonosov Kyiv Chemical and Pharmaceutical Plant, in particular, Diazolin, Corvalol, Naphthyzin and Validol.
In general, the company has more than 220 product dossiers, produces about 20 new drugs annually.
The decision to develop technology and create a cardiovascular medicine, similar to Valocordin, which was produced in Germany, at the Lomonosov Kyiv Chemical and Pharmaceutical Plant was made in 1959. The first batch of the drug was released as early as next year at the same enterprise. At that time, it was a know-how – a generic European sedative drug.
Farmak since 1991 is the only manufacturer of Corvalol on the post-Soviet territory. The Corvalol trademark is protected in 15 countries of Europe and Middle Asia, including Germany, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.
PJSC Farmak by the end of 2019 plans to bring its products to the U.S. market, CEO Volodymyr Kostiuk said at a press conference on Friday.
“The share of our exports in 2018 amounted to 25% of total sales. We exported products to different countries, in particular, to countries in Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia. This year we plan to enter the U.S. market,” he said.
Kostiuk also said that Farmak plans to cooperate with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and increase investment in the development of innovative technologies of the company.
“Last year we invested about UAH 700 million in laboratories, in the development of new medicines, in IT. This year we are doing everything to increase investment. In particular, we have planned to invest about $35 million in the development of the IT laboratory. We start a lot of new projects. We also plan to actively cooperate with the EBRD,” Kostiuk said.
According to him, the company plans to expand its product line.
“The company is actively developing its product line. Every year we produce up to 20 new products. This year we plan to release 23 new products,” Kostiuk said.
PJSC Farmak is among Ukraine’s top three pharmaceutical producers and is a member of the Association Manufacturers of Medications of Ukraine (AMMU).
PJSC Farmak’s beneficiary is Chairperson of PJSC Farmak’s supervisory board Filia Zhebrovska. She owns 80% of the company’s shares.
In 2017, Farmak increased sales in the country’s retail pharmaceutical market by 21% in monetary terms. Its net profit grew by 29.9%, to UAH 839.09 million.
