LaborMed Pharma - the largest private and independent producer of generic medicines on the Romanian market - announces completing its production transfer to the new pharmaceutical plant

(Bucharest, 09-11-2007) LaborMed Pharma announces that the transfer to the plant Inaugurated earlier this year Is now complete. The investment in the new plant allows the differentiation of LaborMed Pharma's products both by quality and largely-affordable prices.The new production facility stretches over a surface of 4,500 sqm, with a capacity of up to 1.5 billion doses per year and geared with equipment meeting the most demanding of all European standards applied to medicine producers. LaborMed Pharma Pharmaceutical Group (medicine manufacturer Labormed Pharma and distributor Labormed Pharma Trading) ended the first 6 months of 2007 with a consolidated turnover amounting to approximately' RON 40 million, equivalent to EUR 12 million.

The company envisages that it will invest in expanding the sales force, as well as promote its portfolio brand LPH® and to consolidate its position on an expanding and increasingly competitive market as Romania. Meanwhile, the company also intends to enlarge its range of products and launch new products, mainly on the market segment of cardiovascular and central nervous system products, as well as oral antibiotics. Another key objective is to improve patients' access to LPH® products by making LaborMed Pharma's products available in all pharmacies in Romania (compared to the 3,800 that currently stock them). Likewise, easier access to other markets in the European Union will facilitate export development by integrating this new business with the company's strategic vision.

„We have successfully gone through all testing and validation stages required to transfer production to the new location. We are now proud of a fully operational factory meeting European standards. Besides the internal production that has already been secured, we are currently working on developing a well-defined export structure and focusing on turning all the documentation in CTD format required in the other EU markets for the medicines' registration. Exporting to the EU presents a good opportunity for our products to be known beyond the national borders. We are counting on the present production capacity that exceeds the domestic demand and on the long experience gained in medicine production to initiate international partnerships and grow exports”, declared Dr.Phrm. Xeni-Camelia Dicu, General Manger of Labormed Pharma.

Considering the importance of the objectives set in the present Romanian pharmaceutical market context, as well as the interest displayed by various companies, the company does not exclude conclusion of a  partnership with a strategic or a financial investor in the next 12 months with a view to support sustainable growth and to reinforce its position as local and even regional generics producer. To this end, the company is assisted by Raiffeisen Investment Romania which evaluates and proposes the best option for company's development.

LaborMed Pharma, according to Cegedim data, was ranked 6th in the top of local producers in Q3 this year, with a market share of 1.6%. That makes it the largest private independent medicine producer. The company has over 10 years of experience in exports, with a market share of approximately 1 % in Republic of Moldova and it now intends to reach similar positions on other markets in the region.