Emmanuel Eumont, general manager of Gedeon Richter France, discusses the group’s leading position in women’s health, its external growth strategy, notably through the acquisition of Finox Biotech in 2016, and the upcoming product launches that will strengthen its portfolio. Finally, Eumont shares his thoughts on the 8th edition of the Strategic Council of Health Industries (CSIS) that took place last July.
Last time we met with Gedeon Richter France, then-CEO Ksenija Pavletic was very proud about the integration of PregLem within the company and the success of the product ESMYA®
(a drug used to treat symptoms of uterine fibroids in women who have not yet reached menopause.) More recently, you joined the group through the acquisition of Finox Biotech. Could you tell us more about this acquisition and what it brought to Gedeon Richter?
The rationale of the acquisition was to enlarge the product portfolio and to strengthen our position in women’s health by entering the fertility and biosimilar fields. In that respect, Finox Biotech was a unique opportunity. Through this operation, Gedeon Richter also acquired BEMFOLA®,a recombinant-human Follicle-Stimulating Hormone (r-FSH) that has been developed as a biosimilar to Gonal-f®, an already-marketed and established reference product. BEMFOLA® is hence a biosimilar, fertility drug and a very strong seller for our group today.
How was the process of integrating a mid-cap Hungarian pharmaceutical company with a more humble Swiss biotech startup?
While the acquisition was confirmed in 2016, the real integration in France and abroad started in the beginning of 2017. Thanks to the acquisition of PregLem in the past, the group had all the tools to conduct a smooth integration. On top of that, Gedeon Richter was well organized: it had used external growth as a strategy several times before, and had an open mindset for such integrations.
Not only was it smooth overall, but it was also particularly easy in France. I was personally responsible for the integration due to my experience in setting up Finox Biotech in France. Here, we merged the two companies into a single entity and we now have a unique salesforce whereas in the other countries, it was established as a separate fertility business unit (which would then include Finox). This local decision was related to the peculiarity of the French market, both for our employees and the patients. The results were excellent: we had a double-digit growth in BEMFOLA® just after the acquisition, so we can say that it was the good choice. On top of this, it showed Gedeon Richter could follow different strategic paths in different markets.
What does France mean today for Gedeon Richter?
France is our eighth most important market, recently gaining one place in our rankings. It is also the second strongest in Europe for us, behind Germany. The performance in this country is critical and promising. Not only is BEMFOLA® growing precipitously, but also the fertility business in France is the largest by far in the Gedeon Richter overall group: the sales of BEMFOLA® in France constitute one third of the sales globally.
Revenue-wise and strategically, France is crucially important."
