Almirall opens a new affiliate in Canada
The Catalan pharmaceutical will market aclidinium bromide, recently approved, for COPD.
By Biocat
Almirall goes a step forward in its internationalization process after announcing the opening of the thirteenth branch, which will be located in Toronto (Canada). The Canadian pharmaceutical business is the eighth worldwide. The Catalan pharmaceutical will establish direct presence in the North American territory for the first time. All current affiliates are located in Europe (Austria, Belgium, France, Italy, Scandinavia, Poland, Portugal, UK, Ireland and Switzerland) and Mexico.
Almirall forecast is to introduce its innovative medicines in Canada, "especially in the respiratory and dermatology fields," says Eduardo Sanchiz, CEO at Almirall. These are both key therapeutic areas for Almirall too, and on which its R&D has a particular focus. Aclidinium bromide, bronchodilator treatment to relieve the symptoms of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) , has been recently approved in the United States and Europe, and will be one of the first drugs rolled-out in Canada and which will be co-promoted with Forest Laboratories.
Aclidinium —Almirall’s recently approved drug for COPD in US and Europe— will be one of the drugs rolled-out in Canada, where the Aclidinium respiratory franchise will be co-promoted with Forest.
Almirall's net sales in the first half of 2012 were 374 million Euros (12.3% less than in 2011) but are in line with the company expectations, primarily due to legislative reforms in Spain and competition in some generic products. International sales continue their strong performance with growth of 3%, which means 57% of total sales (compared to 48% in the first half of 2011). In 2011, Almirall had a workforce of 2,850 employees worldwide, of whom 515 work in R&D.