Romastru Trading growth double that of the pharmaceutical market

 “We grew from turnover worth €300,000 and nine employees in 1999 to €40 million and 200 employees this year,” the company’s General Manager, Cristian Bota, told Business Standard.

Romastru Trading’s business model includes taking over marketing operations from large pharmaceutical companies, which halves the costs of multinational companies for this segment, according to Bota.

“We provide services for multinationals, promote their products according to their market strategy, manage product registration, and handle drug safety operations,” he added.

Large pharmaceutical companies make up a share of the company’s clients, as they take their first steps on the local market and using a partner company lowers their risks. “We create the structure, we create everything, promoting their products, and when they decide to enter the market on their own, they can even take over the sales team,” Bota added.

Romastru’s first significant client in 1999 was Bayer pharma producer. The company took over the marketing for its own products in 2002, with the sales team.

Other clients are companies that already have a branch in Romania and who focus their sales force on certain new products and use partner companies for promoting other products.

The company currently has 40 products in its portfolio, owned by several pharmaceutical companies.

Among its competitors are Pharma Swiss and Ewopharma. The local pharma market is worth some €1.8 million and is expected to increase 8 percent in 2008, according to Cegedim research company.