British drug maker GlaxoSmithKline GSK recently announced its plans to close down the Europharm factory it owns in Brasov, Romania, because of production overcapacity at a group level. The decision came following a wave of expired patents which led to an excess of capacity for solid oral drugs,” said Pascal Prigent, general manager of GSK Romania.

The factory in Brasov is the second largest drug producer in Romania, and had a turnover of EUR 104 million last year, and a profit of EUR 11 million. Most of its production goes to export, some 60 percent. This is the first drug factory in Romania which is closing down.

The drug producer is currently looking for a buyer for this factory in the next six months, while GSK will move the production at this factory to other factories of the group, until 2015 the latest.

According to GSK, this is not a sign the company does not plan to further invest on the Romanian market. “GSK continues to be dedicated to the Romanian market, where we will continue to be an important employer, with over 650 employees in the pharma and distribution divisions, and we plans to invest between EUR 8 and 10 million in the coming years in research and development,” said Pascal Prigent.

The Brasov factory was opened 20 years ago and produced drugs for HIV/AIDS treatments, drugs for respiratory diseases, depression, cold and flu. Around 250 people work in this factory, which was taken over in 1998 from Europharm. GSK invested some USD 100 million in this factory since takeover. In 2011, the company finalized a USD 7 million investment in two production lines for the anti-depressive Seroxat and for the HIV drug Retrovir. In total, the factory produces 16 brands of drugs.

editor@romania-insider.com