BOUCHERVILLE, Quebec, Sept. 25, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sandoz Canada Inc. celebrated its 10th anniversary on September 19 this year with a colourful event in Boucherville, where its facilities are located. Approximately 1,000 people (employees and their families) gathered together to celebrate the success of this prominent Canadian company rich in history, an outline of which is provided below.
In 2004, the Novartis group, owner of Sandoz International GmbH, purchased Sabex, a Québec company founded in 1980 that specialized in manufacturing generic drugs and was recognized for its technological leadership with regards to injectable products. One year later, RhoxalPharma, another generic company in Québec, was also acquired, and it was during this period that Sandoz Canada Inc. was born.
In the last 10 years, the company has continued to grow on the Canadian market thanks to the expertise of its employees and the financial, technological and logistical capabilities of Sandoz International GmbH.
From 2007 to 2009, the company invested several million dollars in its Boucherville facilities and created no less than 200 new jobs. The Boucherville site includes a modern sterile plant, new headquarters inaugurated at the end of August 2009, and a Development Center that was expanded in 2013, the same year Sandoz purchased land in Boucherville for its future manufacturing facilities.
Sandoz achieved another major milestone in 2009 when it launched the first ever biosimilar in Canada: PrOmnitrope® (somatropin), a recombinant human growth hormone. This medicine is used to treat some growth disorders in adult and pediatric patients.
Over time, the Consumer Products franchise increased its presence on the shelves of Canadian retailers across the country by offering non-prescription drugs such as Salinex®, Creo-Rectal® and Demo-Cineol® to name a few.
The competitive prices and quality of Sandoz products enabled the company's Canadian market share to raise from 0.6% in 2005 to 14.5% in 2015, fast-tracking it from 6th to 3rd place among Canadian generic companies in just 10 years.
"We're very proud of Sandoz Canada's progress over the past 10 years and we wanted to celebrate this success with everyone who contributed to it! Thanks to our employees and their families, we're achieving our mission of securing long-term access to healthcare for patients by providing them with high-quality affordable drugs," said Michel Robidoux, President and General Manager of Sandoz Canada.
Disclaimer
The foregoing release may contain forward-looking statements that can be identified by terminology such as "new" or similar expressions, or by express or implied discussions regarding future sales of the above-mentioned products. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results with the above-mentioned products to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. There can be no guarantee that the above-mentioned products will receive any additional marketing approvals in any other countries, or that it will reach any particular sales levels. In particular, management's expectations regarding commercialization of the above-mentioned products could be affected by, among other things, additional analysis of clinical data in respect of the above-mentioned products, new clinical data, unexpected clinical trial results, unexpected regulatory actions or delays or government regulation generally, the company's ability to obtain or maintain patent or other proprietary intellectual property protection, competition in general, increased government, industry, and general public pricing pressures, and other risks and factors referred to in the Form 20-F filed by Novartis with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Sandoz is providing the information in this press release as of this date and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
About Sandoz Canada Inc.
Established in Boucherville, Quebec, Sandoz Canada is part of Sandoz International GmbH, the world's second largest producer of generic drugs and a company of the Swiss multinational corporation, Novartis. A leader in its field, Sandoz Canada develops, produces, markets and distributes a wide range of generic products used, among others, in anesthesia, infectious diseases, oncology, cardiology, dermatology and pain management. The Boucherville manufacturing plant specializes in the production of key injectable products.
About Sandoz
Sandoz, a division of Novartis, is a global leader in generic pharmaceuticals, driving sustainable access to high-quality healthcare. Sandoz employs more than 26,000 people worldwide and supplies a broad range of affordable products to patients and customers around the globe.
The Sandoz global portfolio comprises approximately 1,100 molecules, which accounted for 2014 sales of USD 9.6 billion. Sandoz holds the global #1 position in biosimilars as well as in generic anti-infectives, ophthalmics and transplantation medicines. Nearly half of the Sandoz portfolio is in differentiated products – medicines that are scientifically more difficult to develop and manufacture than standard generics.
In addition to strong organic growth since consolidating its generics businesses under the Sandoz brand name in 2003, Sandoz has consistently driven growth in selected geographies and differentiated product areas through a series of targeted acquisitions, including Hexal (Germany), EBEWE Pharma (Austria), and Fougera Pharmaceuticals (US).
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