Swiss pharma firm enters Turkish market

Swiss pharmaceuticals company Nycomed, which has specialized in gastrointestinal respiratory and inflammatory diseases and tissue management, has entered the Turkish market with its own brand name. The company targets $25 million in revenues this year, according to a press conference held Thursday in Istanbul.
Nycomed, headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, achieved nearly $3.2 billion in net turnover by 2009 on a global level. The firm has invested more than $15 million in Turkey, according to executive vice president Guido Oelkers, who said that the firm is hopeful to become a key player in Turkey with its gastrointestinal medicine “Pantas” and painkiller “Xefo.”

“We are operating in more than 50 markets and now we are in Turkey, one of the fastest growing markets of the world,” Oelkers said. He emphasized that the Daxas medicine will be the vehicle to drive Nycomed’s growth in Turkey.

“There are more than 1.5 million diagnosed patients of chronic obstructive lung disease, or COPD, in Turkey,” said Oelkers. “The total value of the COPD market in Turkey is nearly $190 million, due to the smoking habits of Turks.”

A lucrative market

Speaking to Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review on the sidelines of the press conference, Oelkers said the firm targets $25 million in revenues this year.
“But in the next three years we would to like make this figure $100 million,” he said. “Turkey was ranked as the 18th biggest medicine market in 2003. Today it is 12th. We wish to be an active player in Turkey as well as China and Brazil.”

Figures show that more than 70 percent of Nycomed’s total growth is driven by emerging markets.
“The Turkish medicine market has an annual volume of $12.5 billion, while annual medical expenses per capita are $135,” said Bedri Toker, chairman of Nycomed Turkey. “This is certainly worth investing.” Toker added that the projections of the firm demonstrate that per capita spending will increase to $200 in the next five years.

Toker also said that the firm is open for cooperation and partnership for presenting its new medicine, Daxas, to the Turkish market.Nycomed started its Turkey operations at the end of last year and has employed nearly 130 people.