Norameda, a leading pharmaceutical company in Baltic countries, announced a 3.2% growth in sales last year. Norameda’s turnover is growing steadily every year, and in 2022 was 26,6M, 2021 – 25,8M, and 22,9M in 2020.
“We are pleased with the results in all our countries. The percentage growth in Latvia and Estonia is slightly higher than in Lithuania, but sales are growing in all Baltic countries,” says Audrius Leiva, Norameda’s General Manager. “In Poland, where we entered the market two years ago, we are still in the investment phase. Still, we do not doubt that we will be able to establish ourselves there as well.”
The CEO is pleased that Norameda’s divisions have steadily grown in main segments: Hospital, Rx and Rx Specialty, and CH.
The good news is that the Baltic pharmaceutical market has finally recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic: especially in the OTC segment, which suffered most from the pandemic restrictions regarding movement – people visited pharmacies less and sales of supplements dropped.
On the other hand, according to A. Leiva, the Baltic market still feels the impact of the recent pandemic constraints in China: components of certain medicines are produced there, and their supply has been disrupted in the long term.
“Still, this does not directly impact our business operations,” notes A. Leiva.
However, the company faces challenges like every other business: rising wages, logistics, fuel and energy costs. In addition, the pharmaceutical sector is one of the most restrictive: government sets the medicine prices, and they have been stable or even falling while costs rise.
“We also have a long and complex process of evaluating new medicines that delay the entry of innovations into the Baltic market. For example, on average, it takes 500 days for a new drug to be added to Lithuania’s reimbursed medicines list.”
As negotiations are ongoing with several partners to be represented in Baltics, Norameda’s CEO is optimistic about the future and expects further growth of up to 10% this year.