（夕注：这是4月5日波兰Warsaw Business Journal对Polfa Warszawa公司董事长的采访。他介绍了此公司的基本情况，是波兰历史悠久的制药公司，因十年前未能完成私有化而造成发展缓慢。2010年营业收入和利润都有超预期的增长。公司主营通用药品，国外市场主要在俄罗斯和中亚国家。因西欧基本是专利药品的天下，所以在西欧几乎没有市场。目前对中国市场和南非市场有开发的想法。关于五家竞标企业，他讲要由波兰药物控股集团来决定，其中有两个标准：一是出价，二是针对Polfa Warszawa的发展计划。中国未来的药品市场对他们来讲应该有很大的诱惑力。另四家分别是两家波兰公司，一家冰岛公司和一家乌克兰公司。蔡天总经理目前在波兰，不知是尽职调查事宜还是最后竞标事宜？）

Data: 05.04.2011

Pharmaceuticals and privatization: Just what the doctor ordered

Pharmaceuticals and privatization: Just what the doctor ordered (Warsaw Business Journal)Krzysztof Berndt, president of pharmaceuticals-maker Polfa Warszawa, talks about privatization, innovation and plans for the future

E Blake Berry: The Polish Pharmaceutical Holding [owner of Polfa Warszawa] has selected five companies for advanced negotiations on privatization. Which would be the best investor in your opinion? What is being taken into consideration in the selection process?

Krzysztof Berndt: I am really pleased by the interest in Polfa Warszawa. The offers approved for further talks were submitted by two Polish companies, Adamed and Polpharma, and three foreign companies: Iceland’s Actavis Polska, Ukrainian Arterium Corporation and Harbin Gloria Pharmaceuticals from China. The final decision on the investor will be made by the Polish Pharmaceutical Holding. I think it will be guided by the two most important criteria – the price and the development plan for Polfa Warszawa. For us, it is most important that the investor presents a good development program for the company and, at the same time, makes it possible to continue ongoing projects which, in my opinion, are important for the company.

Do you see any downside to privatization?
To be quite honest, I can’t see any, personally. I think that failure to privatize the company would be a big problem now, because it would mean fewer chances for the company.
If Polfa Warszawa had been privatized some 10 years ago, it could now be one of the most important pharmaceutical companies in Central and Eastern Europe. At present it is ranked 16th among pharmaceutical companies in Poland in terms of the turnover and fourth in terms of volume. The examples offered by companies which were very far from the position of market leader and whose dynamic development started after privatization are proof that the privatization of Polfa Warszawa is necessary.

Polfa Warszawa has survived two world wars, communism and the transition back to capitalism. How has the firm coped with such major changes? What about recent challenges?
Polfa Warszawa was established from the Artificial Mineral Waters Institute, which started production in 1824. Over all these years, the company has adapted its business to cover various areas. During socialist times, when Poland was a strategic country providing medicines to numerous countries of the Soviet bloc, Polfa Warszawa played a leading role in the pharmaceuticals sector.
Things have not always looked bright. However, despite difficulties and fluctuations in the company or in various markets – such as the 1997 crisis in Russia, an important market for us – we have been able to maintain a stable economic position and profitability. I think the credit is due to competent people who have managed the company skilfully.

How important a market is Russia for you?
Russia is our largest importer. It is also a country where we have a representative office. Even after the introduction of legal changes in Russia, we have maintained a very high level of sales.

How about other markets?
At present, we are preparing to expand in countries such as Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia and Uzbekistan. We have already achieved good results in some of these countries.
In addition, we are planning on entering the Chinese and South African markets. While the former is completely “pristine” for us, we have a presence in South Africa and would like to rebuild our position there. Having found a reliable and credible partner, we have a very good chance of success.

And the West? Are you considering expansion in that direction?
We also want to enter this market. At present, however, we are focusing on the aforementioned markets, mainly because these are generic markets, while the patented medicine market is dominant in Western countries.

How different is the Polish pharmaceutical market from Western markets?
Western countries mostly sell patented medicines, while in Poland the vast majority of medicines sold are generic. In terms of quality, they fully match the quality of drugs produced in Germany, France or Denmark. I am fully convinced that ours are even better in many cases. The fact that we are conducting very advanced talks with one of the largest generics-producing companies in the world regarding a contract for the production of generic products is further evidence for this.

Did Polfa Warszawa meet its forecasts for 2010?
When we prepared the budget for 2010, it seemed very ambitious. The supervisory board approved it with some anxiety. We assumed 16 percent and 13 percent growth for the domestic and overseas markets, respectively, and a net profit at the level of zł.39 million. This amounted to a 15 percent increase compared to 2009, in which we achieved a profit of zł.32.5 million net.
In the end, our net profit amounted to zł.44 million with revenues of zł.365 million, beating our expectations. This was closely connected with a change in strategy and very good work from our personnel.
Pharmaceuticals is a fairly R&D-heavy industry.

What’s your firm working on at the moment?
We are now planning two products for which pre-clinical tests are being performed. The results have been very promising so far. We are planning to conduct these analyses until the end of the year. After selecting an investor, we intend to present a balance of these projects. At that time, the decision on starting clinical trials will be made.

What, in your opinion, is the biggest barrier to innovation?
Money, definitely money. There are a lot of ideas for new products, but there is not enough capital to introduce them. The development of new molecules requires considerable financial outlays. Besides, it is a long road from molecule to medicine...
Despite this fact, there are innovative companies today in Poland. And this is because there are capable people in our country. The knowledge of our technicians matches the knowledge of scientists from Western countries.

What investments are you currently planning or working on?
We have recently completed an investment connected with the launch of an anti-alcoholism implant. The first batch of this product was sold in December. Orders for subsequent batches are coming not only from Poland, but from all over the world. Therefore, we have high hopes for this product.
Another investment is connected with a new production line for products mainly intended for export markets.

What else does your development strategy envision?
First of all we need an investor which will be able to reach an agreement with the management board regarding our development plans and the company’s strategy: an investor which will be capable of forming an alliance between the cultures of two different companies.
Our plans for the future include, among other things, expansion to new markets and the introduction of a new portfolio of medicines. We are also preparing to potentially transfer our manufacturing plant outside Warsaw. We have commissioned the necessary financial analyses from an external company. No specific decisions regarding the location have been made so far, but the ability of our personnel to reach the location is an important criterion here. Otherwise it would be difficult to find specialists as qualified as those we have now. And without them, the company would not be able to operate efficiently.

How do you compete with other pharmaceutica companies that also focus on generics?
We do not use any non-standard tricks. We use the same measures as our competitors. To put it simply, the best company is the winner.