Chiesi employs approximately 4,100 people, 515 of whom are dedicated to research and development activities. The pharmaceutical company confirms a growth trend and investments for 2014. 237 million euros earmarked for research and development. Sales originated for the 77% outside the domestic market
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The Chiesi Farmaceutici Group, an international company based in Parma, closed the 2014 financial year with a turnover of 1,342 million euros and a growth of 8.4% compared to 2013 – approximately two points higher than the global market trend . The EBITDA [ed: profit before interest expense, taxes, depreciation and amortization on tangible and intangible assets] reached 363 million euros, equal to 27.1% of sales, an increase compared to 2013. Investments in research and development reached the record level of 237 million euros, equal to 17.6% of sales. This result has allowed the Group to climb the world ranking of innovative pharmaceutical companies from 50th to 46th position.
“Our growing commitment to research and innovation represents the necessary premise for the effort that the Group is making to develop new products in all the therapeutic areas in which it is engaged. At the same time, it lays the foundations for consolidating the leadership in traditional therapeutic areas, such as respiratory diseases and neonatology, and for establishing itself in an increasingly concrete way in the treatment of rare diseases and advanced therapies” comments Alberto Chiesi, president of Chiesi Farmaceutici.
The products – Foster® (beclometasone dipropionate and formoterol fumarate), Curosurf® (poractant alfa), Clenil® (beclomethasone dipropionate), the three largest products of the Group by turnover, achieved very positive results: in particular, Foster recorded a decisive increase in market shares in all 47 markets in which it is present directly or through related brands. Overall Foster®, Nexthaler® and related brands generated total sales of over 420 million Euros, up approximately 24% compared to 2013. Curosurf® has further consolidated its global leadership in the treatment of respiratory distress syndrome in premature infants, with sales of 175 million Euros, an increase of 8.1% compared to 2013. Clenil®, thanks to the appreciation it has received for decades in numerous markets, has generated sales of over 171 million Euros and a growth of 5.1% compared to the previous year.
Investments: in addition to the already mentioned 237 million euros in research and development, the Group has invested 87 million euros in new industrial plants and 89 million euros for the acquisition of the total capital of Chiesi USA. In this way, important results were obtained: "an extraordinary boost to the development of new products, the increase in the production capacity of Foster Nexthaler (Blois plant) and Curosurf (Modena and Parma plants), necessary to cope with the growing demand, and the presence of a fully operational subsidiary in the largest pharmaceutical market in the world”.
The Group's global presence is also increasingly pronounced: this is evident from the development of sales, which now originate for the 77% outside the domestic market.
“2014 was certainly a brilliant and positive year for the financial results achieved which are even more appreciable if we consider that all geographical areas contributed to the achievement of these results: Northern - Central Europe (+12%), Emerging Countries (+9.2%), Southern Europe (+4.6) and the USA (+8.4%), a market that we conquered by completing the acquisition of the American company Cornerstone and which opens up very important strategic prospects. The distribution of growth confirms the validity of the internationalization strategy that the Group has made its own for a long time and thanks to which our products are appreciated in an increasingly large number of markets” adds Ugo Di Francesco, CEO of Chiesi Farmaceutici.
Furthermore, 2014 was the year for Chiesi of “new innovative products in gene therapy (Glybera®, alipogene tiparvovec), in regenerative medicine (Holoclar®, the first autologous stem cell-based product approved in the western world) and in prevention of transplant rejection (Envarsus®, tacrolimus monohydrate), which enrich the Group's portfolio and its cultural baggage. Especially in the cases of Glybera® and Holoclar® it is not out of place to speak of a pioneering approach to totally new sectors of medicine that offer therapeutic solutions to serious health problems that until recently had no cure".
Chiesi Farmaceutici spa – Chiesi Farmaceutici is a research-oriented international group with 80 years of experience and based in Parma. Chiesi researches, develops and markets innovative drugs in the respiratory therapeutic and specialist medicine areas.
The Parma Research Center, the laboratories in Paris (France), Rockville (USA), Chippenham (UK) and the R&D team of the Danish company Zymenex, belonging to the group, collaborate on the Group's pre-clinical, clinical and registrar programmes. Chiesi employs approximately 4,100 people, 515 of whom are dedicated to research and development activities.
