Pharmaceuticals

Biopharm is a pharmaceutical company founded in early 1990. In October 1991 the company began operations with the production of generic drugs. To diversify and develop its business Biopharm started to gradually adapt its organisational structure by creating five subsidiary companies. Besides the industrial production of drugs, which remains the core activity of the initial company, Biopharm SPA, in 2003 the group launched its first subsidiary, Human Health Information, to promote its products and provide medical information.

The company developed its distribution network to pharmacies through Biopure in 2012 and wholesale distribution of pharmaceuticals and import activities through Biopharm Distribution in 2014. In the same year the subsidiary Biopharm Logistic which operates in pharmaceutical industry logistics, was launched. The group also controls another company created in 2012, Biopure, which is dedicated to managing all the joint ventures and partnerships of the group. After two decades of intense activity, Biopharm arrived at an important stage in its development, which required restructuring to ensure its development and to help strengthen its governance.

In 2013 Biopharm opened 49% of its capital to an international consortium — ADP Enterprises WLL — composed of ADPI, an investment fund specialising in Africa and advised by Development Partners International; a private equity fund management company based in London, DEG; KfW, a subsidiary of the largest European development agencies and FMC Cofares, an investment vehicle owned by two institutional funds specialising in North Africa (EuroMena Funds and Mediterrania Capital Partners). This alliance was designed to allow the Biopharm group to benefit from the consortium of international networking in order to pursue the development plan of its activities upstream and downstream, ensuring technology transfer, strengthening managerial coaching and benefiting from the experience of the consortium members to develop its export markets in Africa and Europe. In March 2016 Biopharm stock was officially listed on the Algiers Stock Exchange, through an initial public offering allowing the partial exit of Abdelmadjid Kerrar, the chairman, by selling 20% of his shares.

Even with the slow growth of the market in 2015, the company, in terms of activity, performed well, with a turnover of AD51.04bn (€421.9m), representing a 4.3% increase compared to 2014, when the turnover reached AD49bn (€405.3m). Biopharm saw an increase in net profit, with a jump of 15.6% to AD4.5bn (€37.2m), and operating profit was up 18.4% to AD6bn (€49.6m). However, due to exchange rate fluctuations, the financial result was down by AD264m (€2.2m), representing a decrease of 69.5% compared to the previous year.

Recent Results

In the first semester of 2016 the consolidated turnover of the company was AD28.76bn (€237.9m) against AD26.7bn (€220.9m) in the first half of 2015. The consolidated net income for the first semester of 2016 reached AD2.79bn (€23.1m) against AD1.9bn (€15.7m) in the first half of 2015. This growth is the result of the evolution of revenues, the steady growth of production, placing high value-added products on the market and the efforts carried out to help control costs. Consolidated earnings per share reached AD108.7 (€0.90) in the first half of 2016 against AD77.2 (€0.64) in the first half of 2015.

Development Strategy

Through these actions, the group wants to assure a strong positive growth in its activities, through the realisation of its ambitious development programme. Biopharm’s strategic vision is mainly based on producing essential drugs for the Algerian and North African markets; offering a competitive and profitable product mix for the group; and consolidating and developing strategic alliances at the local and regional levels.

The group has also announced plans to launch production of a drug for high blood pressure diseases with the German medical firm Boeringer Ingelheim in 2018.