June 7 (SeeNews) – Romanian state-controlled drug maker Antibiotice [BSE:ATB] will benefit from an investment of around 100 million euro ($108.96 million) financed through EU funds to boost production of critical medicines, Adrian Caciu, minister of European investments and projects, said.
The investment, part of the ministry’s Health Programme, will reduce Romania’s and Europe’s dependence on imported and non-EU drugs, Caciu said in a social media post on June 6 following a government delegation visit to Antibiotice’s headquarters in the northeastern city of Iasi.
As part of the project, a new research center will be developed and two new production flows focused on critical medicines will be implemented at Antibiotice’s industrial platform in Iasi.
“The research centre will provide 200 jobs for highly qualified specialists. We already have people working in the current research infrastructure that we are training, but we will also create other employment opportunities. Today we have 1,400 jobs that we will keep, reorienting specialists in the context of changes on the platform, due to process recalibration and digitization,” Antibiotice director general, Ioan Nani, said in a press release on June 7.
In the first trimester of 2024, Antibiotice booked a net profit of 37.3 million lei ($8.2 million/7.5 million euro), up 68% on the year, on a total revenue of 192.5 million lei, it said in a quarterly financial report filed with the Bucharest Stock Exchange last month. Last year, the pharmaceuticals company’s net profit soared by 58%, reaching 81 million lei ($17.3 million/16.3 million euro).
Established in 1955, Antibiotice produces 160 generic drugs for human use, veterinary drugs and Nystatin, an active ingredient. The two biggest shareholders in Antibiotice are Romania’s health ministry with a stake of 53% and retail investment fund Infinity Capital Investments with 29.4%.
Antibiotice’s shares traded 7.69% higher at 2.66 lei as at 1546 CET on June 7 on the Bucharest bourse.
(1 euro=4.976 lei)
