Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - October 2008 - (Page 29)

Dr Cengiz Sezen, chairman of the board, and M. Levent Selamoglu, CEO, Mustafa Nevzat Pharmaceuticals. How do you continue to justify your commitment to producing APIs? Cengiz Sezen: It is getting more and more difficult because of the competition. China can produce much more and much cheaper. They also have governmental support. A qualified worker earns $120 per month in China. This is €80 per month; they get 12 salaries that make the sum of €960 per year. For a qualified worker in Turkey you pay about €1500 per month. In Turkey we have 250 working days, in China 320. How can you compete against them? India you should transport big volumes to Turkey and you need big logistical support. Chinese and Indian products may be cheaper than the ones we're producing here, but it is difficult to purchase everything from those countries due to logistics and sometimes quality issues. we have been supplying the US market with our products since May 2007. LS: The oncological business will be one of the most important ones for not only Turkey, but for exports to Dr Cengiz Seze n the US. The oncological facility will supply the US, Europe, Turkey and other markets. market with all our products because there is huge competition with Indian products. We took our injectable and hospital products and we found very good partners for marketing and selling our products. We understand you have a fifth production facility on the way. What do you have planned for this new complex? And we understand you’re looking to Japan too? CS: We will start in Japan by supplying APIs, and the second step is finished dosage forms. LS: Japan is the most difficult market to penetrate, so this is our new challenge. CS: Within the end of this year our fifth facility will be finished for oncological products and we are expecting a US FDA Is the cost competition brought by inspection for this facility within this year. India and China just as Moreover, we hope to start difficult in Turkey for supplying injectable oncological products from this facility to the generics? Levent Selamoglu: In general, US market in 2009. We are the it is difficult. However, in first and only FDA-approved Turkey there is an established company in Turkey for finished manufacturer’s base for products. We have filed 30 pharmaceutical products. It ANDAS in the US and seven of may be expensive compared to those are oncological products. oglu China or India, but when you We already have two M. Levent Selam start supplying from China or marketing authorisations and What’s critical here is that you’ve tapped into the world’s biggest market — the United States. Why focus so much attention there? LS: First of all, it is a big market. The second thing is if you’re able to pass the FDA, you’re in that market. Europe is not a European union, even if they say that it is a union; there are 27 different countries with different regulations. Each requires a different perspective for registering products. So we decided to go to the US market, although we knew almost nothing about it when we started. But we had the right product. We did not start in the US Accessing difficult markets such as the US and Japan takes not just patience and courage, but also time and money. Why make that investment? LS: It’s where the money is. Injectable products are difficult to manufacture. They require technology because generic products in general are cheaper. The market demands and high quality standards of the US justify our strategy. 37 Last words Who said what in pharma’s last four weeks 3 News The monthly round-up of European stories 6 Calendar Upcoming events in Europe and around the world 7 BioFutures Gerhard Symons on the dark side of Russian healthcare

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - October 2008

Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - October 2008
Contents
News and Analysis
Calendar
BioFutures
Strategy Fundamentals
Executive Recruitment: Small Company, Big Career
Executive Recruitment: Instant Pharma
Named Patient Programmes
Executive Review: Turkey

Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - October 2008