Kedrion SpA has bought yesterday from Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (a leading global pharmaceutical company) 100% of the shares in Human Bioplazma Manufacturing and Trading Ltd, a company established under the Hungarian law and based in Gödöllo (Budapest).
Kedrion thus acquires a manpower of 127 employees, a fractionation and production plant with a productive capacity of approximately 300,000 litres, a plasmapheresis station which collects about 20,000 litres of plasma/year from local donors, and authorisations to produce and market the main plasmaderivatives (Albumin, Factor VIII, Factor IX, Standard immunoglobulin and Anti-tetanus immunoglobulin). Human Bioplazma will obviously continue collaborating with the Hungarian Health System and the other health-care facilities, as previously done by Teva.
“Whilst on the one hand Kedrion consolidates its commitment in Italy, on the other this initiative – explains Paolo Marcucci, President and CEO of Kedrion – is an important piece of our growth strategy aimed at entering new markets, especially in Europe, and increasing our productive capacity. In particular, this means integrating our operations, from supplies of raw materials to production and distribution of pharmaceuticals, and strengthening our position in terms of sales, production and registrations, while promoting the local activities”.
Kedrion is 6th in the world for its volume of fractionated plasma, has offices in over 40 countries, has 650 employees in the two Italian plants and has a consolidated turnover of 155 million euros in 2006. The Company is registering its products, including Venbig and Uman Big (Anti-hepatitis B immunoglobulin, intravenous and intramuscular, respectively) in European countries including Hungary, through the European mutual recognition procedure for the marketing of pharmaceuticals.
“During the negotiations with Teva – Paolo Marcucci concludes – we have had the opportunity to appreciate and observe first-hand the professional skills and experience of people of the Hungarian company, and we are certain that the integration of specific expertise and technology will be extremely useful in achieving the strategic targets set by the Kedrion Group, initially by maximising the capacity of the Gödöllo plant and the subsequent increase in availability of plasma-derived products for the domestic and international markets”.