Actavis Group's Malta arm sees remarkable growth

Within the last three years, Actavis has seen remarkable growth from a virtually unknown brand to become the leading generic player in the pharmaceuticals market. Now, the Actavis Group aims to supply the bulk of its EU markets through its Malta subsidiary Actavis Ltd.

Actavis Group is a multinational company employing over 7,000 people in 28 countries all over the globe. A flurry of mergers and acquisitions in the last five years, which also saw the acquisition in Malta of Pharmamed, placed the group among the strongest in the sector.

The merger and acquisition strategy brought along a number of companies trading under different names, like Delta, Omega, Balkanpharma, Pharmamed, Fako, and UNP. The management board decided to streamline and consolidate these companies under one strong brand and on May 17, 2004, Actavis was born.

Actavis Ltd is based at Bulebel Industrial Estate. Marketing and sales division manager Chris Pace explains that Malta was selected for its base for two reasons: "The favourable patent conditions and investment climate proved to be attractive," he said.

"Secondly, the existing company, Pharmamed, had a wealth of skilled human resources and a high production capacity factory which was ideal as a platform from which to supply the EU market."

The company has invested in upgrading manufacturing facilities to fully comply with EU standards, and in research and development. The manufacturing plant is now a state-of-the-art facility, approved by numerous EU health authorities, and some of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies.

"The Maltese company now also plays an important role in the development of generic pharmaceuticals for both the EU and US markets. To retain a leading position it is vital that a company such as ours has a strong pipeline in development to ensure continuous growth in the future. The Actavis Group therefore has a number of development sites, with one in Malta," Mr Pace said.

Malta is also important to the group because of its advantageous location. The company's sales and marketing department is responsible for the group's marketing in Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

Last June, Malta hosted the European Generics Association Meeting, one of the latest in a long list of important meetings as multinational pharmaceuticals continue to choose Malta as their venue.

The EGA's conference was the first pharmaceutical conference of its kind to be held here, bringing together leading generic companies from around the world. Actavis was one of the event's major sponsors.

Pharmaceuticals basically fall into two categories - originator and generic. Mr Pace explains the difference: "An originator, or innovator, company is one which develops therapeutic products aimed at treating a specific illness or disease. This involves tremendous investment. Once the new drug is approved the drug is patented for 20 years during which the company has no competition. This, in essence, is the innovator's reward for developing the new drug and it also allows the company the opportunity to recover the high development costs."

Once the patent period is over, generic companies may then produce the same product. In highly regulated markets such as the EU and the US, a generic company has to prove that their product is of identical quality to the originator before it is allowed to enter the market.

A generic product is usually at least 30 per cent cheaper than the originator - which means that generic companies make quality pharmaceuticals more affordable.

Meanwhile, the pharmaceutical industry's future prospects in Malta look good.

"The future of the local pharmaceutical industry is bright thanks to the favourable patent environment and attractive conditions offered by the government through Malta Enterprise," Mr Pace pointed out, adding that it was encouraging to see government taking steps to ensure that Malta had the skills to support the industry.

Both the University and MCAST offer courses related to pharmaceuticals.

Mr Pace continued: "Our company has been manufacturing pharmaceuticals in Malta for over 25 years, but it has been the arrival of Actavis which is making other companies take notice of the opportunities we can offer."

Actavis is still the largest manufacturer in Malta. But more companies have set up shop and more loom on the horizon.

Mr Pace says this is good news for Malta.

"It encourages investment and development of support industries like printing and packaging which we have had to source from abroad. With more skilled labour and support services, Malta will be in an even better position to offer a more complete package to the pharmaceutical industry," he said.