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Who are the top 10 small to mid-sized pharma companies in Colombia, who have good growth prospects, a proven business model, and could benefit from investment to help expand?
Hello, and thank you for your request for a list of the top ten small to mid-sized pharma companies in Colombia. The most useful sources were Promofar, Fichas, and the company websites. In short, large multinational companies and American and European subsidiaries dominate the pharmaceutical market in Colombia. Research has shown that they have acquired many of the smaller national companies, so for this reason, we were only able to find four companies that fit your parameters - Advance Scientific de Colombia SAS, Avanpharma, EuroEtika, and Laproff. You'll find a deep dive of my research, including publicly available information on company size, pipeline/products on the market, regional activity, goals and expansion plans, below.
COLOMBIAN PHARMA MARKET
The Colombian pharmaceutical market is growing. A 2013 report from PhamExec cited an estimated sales growth from $4.2BN in 2012 to $4.45BN in 2013, with the industry making up approximately 2.5% of the Colombian economy. By 2015, the market had grown to $5BN. Due to an increase in consumption and new government initiatives, the market is expected to grow to $7.1BN by 2020, at a CAGR of 7.3%.
The Colombian pharmaceutical, medical devices and equipment market is dominated by multinational companies. In a 2016 article, PharmExec reports that Tecnoquimicas, Pfizer, Merck, Roche and Procaps are the country's leading companies. Pharmavoice says, "multinational companies are using Colombia as a regional platform for the access to the surrounding regions of Argentina, Peru, Chile, and Ecuador." The 2014 article goes on to say that "the country boasts a good market for medical device manufacturing and generic medication market, but continues to rely heavily on imported drugs."
SMALL TO MID-SIZED COLOMBIAN PHARMA COMPANIES
To determine which companies fit your criteria, we began by examining a list of pharmaceutical companies operating in the country. We first eliminated the multinational and subsidiary companies. Then, using Gartner's definition of SMBs (companies with less than 1,000 employees), eliminated any large Colombian companies. This meant eliminating Tecnoquimicas, which according to their LinkedIn page has between 5,000 and 10,000 employees. This left us with the following four companies that fit your requirements. Note that much of the information regarding these companies is in Spanish. Quotations that have been translated using Google Translate have been noted.
1. Advance Scientific de Colombia SAS
Type of Company: Private company founded in 2007, works with public and private institutions. Pharmaceutical company creating master formulas and more.
Products in the Pipeline/On the Market: A 2013 interview with Advance Scientific leadership indicates that the company is involved in the prevention of tuberculosis. The article goes on to say that the company sells "a number of products ranging from neonatology, cardiovascular, anesthesia, and antibiotics." No product list is provided on their website.
Strategic goals: According to its website, Advance Scientific values integrity, honesty, solidarity, service, ethics, respect and justice. They state their vision as "seeking to consolidate as a successful national company whose presence in the different markets will be framed by its leadership in Quality, service, price and innovation." (Google Translate) Their website says they strive to produce quality products at competitive prices with a goal of entering "new markets oriented to satisfy the needs and expectations of the client." (Google Translate)
Expansion Plans: In a 2013 interview with Pharmaboardroom, Advance Scientific President Gloria Stella, Gonzalez Perez said, "within 5 years, I hope that Advance Scientific will have expanded into other Latin American countries besides Peru. Costa Rica, for example, is a potential market. The company is currently working on a logistics center in the industrial zone of Bogota. For the time being, Advance Scientific has distribution centers in Cali. Advance Scientific will have national coverage in the coming years, especially on the Atlantic coast. We will also develop in the public area, not just hospitals." She also mentions expansion of dermatology therapies.
2. Avanpharma
Company Size: Estimated 13 employees, estimated annual revenue of $834,231. Finchas reports that the company's revenue puts them in the 20% of pharmaceutical companies by size.
Type of Company: Private company with all of the company's funding being Colombian capital. Founded in 2011. According to Finchas, the company is "within the companies of medicines, magistral formulas and diverse articles." (Google Translate)
Products in the Pipeline/On the Market: The company lists 6 products on its website - Nitozin, Nitrofurantoin, Antacid, Chlorpheniramine Maleate, Cardiostatina, Ferrous Sulfate. We could find no information on products in the pipeline for Avanpharma.
Strategic goals: According to their website, the company is "dedicated to the marketing of medicines for the human consumption, at rational costs."
Expansion Plans: The company's stated vision for 2017 is to "be recognized as one of the top 20 enterprises in the pharmaceutical industry with the highest growth rate in the Colombian institutional market. We will be exporting our entire portfolio to countries from the Andean Community of nations and Central America."
3. EuroEtika
Company Size: Estimated 55 employees and estimated annual revenue of $3.06MM. Fincas put the company in the top 10%.
Type of Company: Founded in 1991. Finchas reports that "Euroetika Ltda. is within the companies of medicines, magistral formulas and diverse articles in Bogota." (Google Translate) According to the company website, the company "imports finished products, semi-finished products and raw materials, and has contracts with third parties...for the elaboration and packaging of their products. (Google Translate)
Regional Presence: According to the company website, "EuroEtika distributes its products throughout the country through 42 wholesalers, 23 pharmacy chains, 47 government entities and 373 establishments among dermatological stores, alternative stores and retailers." (Google Translate)
Products in the Pipeline/On the Market: According to the company's website they offer 5 products. They import, license and market "original products of research laboratories, in the pharmaceutical, hospital and dental lines." (Google Translate) We could find no information on products in the pipeline for EuroEtika.
Strategic goals: None found
Expansion Plans: None found
4. Laboratorio Profesional Farmaceutico S.A. (Laproff)
Regional Presence: Headquarters in Medellin
Products in the Pipeline/On the Market: 124 generic medications; 13 brand name medications. We could find no information on products in the pipeline for Laproff.
Strategic goals: According to the company's website, their philosophy is "to produce and market medicines, [and] offer our customers products with all the support of Good Manufacturing Practices INVIMA certification, and compliance with the ISO 9001 ICONTEC certification standards." (Google Translate) Their values are honesty, responsibility, commitment, respect, teamwork, tenacity and opportunity. Their stated vision is to "be the pharmaceutical company with leading products for nutrition. A world-class company, with high levels of professionalism in all collaborators, with participation in research and biotechnological applications, assuming challenges of contribution and social development." (Google Translate)
Expansion Plans: None found
CONCLUSION
The Colombian pharmaceutical market is expected to grow through 2020. The industry is dominated by multinational and American and European subsidiaries. That being said, Advance Scientific de Colombia SAS, Avanpharma, EuroEtika, and Laproff are four small to mid-size Colombian companies that fit your parameters.
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