Last year, the Czech company switched its local market strategy and decided to focus on profitability instead of targeting further market share in Romania.
Because the local health care system includes compensated or free treatment for numerous patients, covered by Health Ministry budget funds, Zentiva has been affected by significant delays in payments.
In many cases, the delay in payment by the ministry for compensated drugs was as much as 300 days, which has forced the producer to set up provisions amounting to millions of euro.
Earlier this year, the company appointed a new CEO, Dragos Damian, former manager of Terapia Ranbaxy producer, which led to improved sales. Damian said that working capital and product portfolio optimization, a better sales team and careful selection of distributors, plus a decrease in payment delays (from 300 days to 240 days) are likely to lead to higher turnover next year.
As for 2008, the company is expected to control a 4.5 percent market share, compared to 5.2 percent in 2007.
