Ranbaxy bought local producer Terapia in 2006, for €258 million, and is operating in Romania unde the name Terapia Ranbaxy. Drugs are produced in two units, one in Bucharest, the other in Cluj-Napoca.
The company's CEO, Dragos Damian, told Business Standard in an exclusive interview that the new factory is not likely to be built next year, "but we are certainly considering increasing our production capacities by 2009-2012."
Damian said the most appropriate location for the new factory is also Cluj-Napoca, because drug production is a tradition there and there is land available. The company currently owns 19 hectares of land in the area, of which it plans to sell 10 hectares. Current production capacities cover 2-3 hectares.
Terapia Ranbaxy also has an investment program worth €7.3 million to increase production capacities by 50 percent at existing plants by the end of the year. Of these funds, €2.9 million have already been invested in modernizing production at the Cluj-Napoca unit, and a further €146,879 in the Bucharest unit. However, Damian said this investment alone will not cover increasing demand forecast for the coming years. Terapia Ranbaxy is currently recording the highest sales increase on the domestic market. The company posted a 49.8 percent rise in the first quarter of 2007, more than twice the 19.2 percent growth of the Romanian pharmaceutical market.
The company ranks seventh on the market in terms of sales volume. Terapia Ranbaxy officials aim to become market leader by the end of the year.
The producer's plan to invest in a new unit is in line with market growth and the plans of other companies to increase production in Romania. One of Ranbaxy's competitors, Iceland-based Actavis, recently said it might build a new production unit in Bucharest, worth €50 million, although a final decision is yet to be made.
