Bioton pumps up growth

Pharmaceutical firm Bioton added another international company to its portfolio when it acquired Swiss drug producer Biopartners. Bioton's purchase of a 100-percent stake in the firm, worth approximately $62 (zł.183) million, will cover the Swiss firm's debt of $16 (zł.47) million. "By acquiring Biopartners, we are buying not only a company, but also an innovative product line, access to new markets and - above all - time," Bioton's president Adam Wilczęga explained.

The acquisition has enabled Bioton to enter the human growth-hormone market quicker than planned. Medicines produced by Biopartners include human growth hormone, the first of which (Valtropin) is to enter the UK market in Q2 of this year. The company is also waiting to register Biferonex - a drug containing interferon beta used in fighting multiple sclerosis, planned to enter the market in 2010. Wilczęga predicts that Biopartners will become profitable in 2008, and its revenues are expected to reach $60 (zł.177) million. This year's sales are predicted to amount to $30 (zł.88) million. Based on profits from the introduction of new products, Biopartner's 2011 revenues are expected to reach $100 (zł.295) million.

Wilczęga underlined that the acquisition doesn't interfere with Bioton's development of its own products. "We will continue research on our own medicines," Wilczęga said. "Biopartners' experience on the market will help quicken the registration process of our medicines," he added.

In 2006 Bioton posted revenues of zł.213.9 million, with a net profit of zł.96.5 million. The company's target for this year is revenues of zł.400 million. Now that the acquisition of Biopartners is complete, reaching that goal is "most realistic," according to Wilczęga.