Pharmaceutical company Balkan Pharmaceuticals opened in Moldova a second drug manufacturing plant – one of the largest in Eastern Europe. Balkan Pharmaceuticals specializes in the production of anticancer drugs and general medicine. Thanks to the new production in Moldova, the company promises to provide local consumers with high-quality and inexpensive medicines, as well as export products to the CIS and EU countries.
On October 20, 2016, in the suburbs of Chisinau, Sîngere, the opening of a new pharmaceutical factory of Balkan Pharmaceuticals was held. The factory occupies a building of 10 thousand square meters, located on 2.5 hectares. This is a completely new, built according to international standards and in compliance with the rules of GMP (a system of norms, rules and guidelines for the production of medicines and medical devices), the production of medical products, which consists of four production lines. Two will produce cytostatics – anticancer drugs, and two more will produce general medicine for the treatment of cardiovascular, fungal, gastrointestinal and other diseases.
Vasile Cazacu, executive director of Balkan Pharmaceuticals, who represented the new enterprise, said that the construction of the factory lasted five years, and during this time more than 30 million euros were invested in the form of investments from the Romanian owners of the company. In his opinion, these investments will provide all citizens with high-quality medicines at affordable prices. “Considering that the share of local products in Moldova is only 8%, and dependence on the import of drugs is very high, such production will be able to increase the pharmaceutical security of the country,” said Cazacu. According to him, the equipment brought from Europe is capable of producing “fantastic volumes” – up to 50 thousand lozenges and up to 250 thousand bottles per hour.
Present at the opening of the plant, Prime Minister Pavel Filip said that the new production brought to life two main priorities of his work as a premier: increasing domestic production and attracting investment. But most importantly, according to Philip, thanks to the investment in Moldova 400 well-paid new jobs will be created. “This means that doctors and pharmacists, engineers and programmers will not leave in search of earnings abroad, but will work at home, alongside their children and elderly parents,” said the head of the Cabinet. He assured the management of Balkan Pharmaceuticals that the government would be a reliable partner of the company, while continuing to create a favorable business climate in Moldova.
According to the prime minister, previous governments made mistakes, overly adjusting the pharmaceutical market, and severely limited it, which led to the shortage and rise in price of many drugs. “The implementation of the action plan adopted in March of this year to address this problem has already begun to bear fruit,” explained Philip. “Has been simplified the registration of medicines, the government has introduced benefits for the payment of customs duties when importing raw materials for pharmaceutical production, a significant part of medicines has fallen in price.” At the same time, he added that the government should not fight prices or tariffs, but strive to ensured that citizens’ incomes allow them to buy the necessary medicines.
The executive director of Balkan Pharmaceuticals assured the prime minister and guests of the solemn opening of the factory that the company would not stop there, and in a year or two he would launch a line for the production of antibiotics. Investments in its launch will amount to 5-6 million euros.
Answering the question of journalists about why it was decided to invest such serious funds in opening a factory in Moldova, Vasile Cazacu said that one of the reasons is that there are many high-quality pharmacists and doctors who need development and good work in their country and Balkan Pharmaceuticals just needs qualified personnel.
In addition, according to him, the company intends to export products to the CIS countries and the EU, since after launching the plant, the production of medicines will grow 10 times compared with the volumes that a small factory in Chisinau now produces. Given that the company produces drugs for the treatment of cancer patients, and the demand for them is growing, Balkan Pharmaceuticals will be able to increase supplies, while significantly reducing prices, the company representative added.
Romanian Ambassador to Moldova Daniel Ionita also spoke about the need to develop the growth trend of the volume of Romanian investments in Moldova. According to him, he, as head of the diplomatic mission, will make every effort to increase both the number of Moldovan-Romanian joint ventures, of which there are more than 4.5 thousand today, and their revenues, amounting to $ 1.4 billion. Ionita also stressed that investments not only strengthen ties between countries, but also significantly improve the lives of Moldovan citizens.
Balkan Pharmaceuticals was founded in 2006. For ten years, her portfolio has already more than 130 items of registered drugs produced in 250 forms and doses. Since 2010, Balkan Pharmaceuticals has been actively involved in specialized national programs, in which it acts as an important supplier of reimbursable drugs, as well as drugs under government procurement contracts.
