Oriola authorised to wholesale pharmaceuticals in Sweden

Oriola, the division in the Orion Group for pharmaceutical distribution and marketing of healthcare equipment and supplies, continues to expand operations in Sweden. The Swedish Medical Products Agency has granted an authorisation to Oriola AB, Oriola's Swedish subsidiary located near Stockholm, for the wholesale of pharma-ceuticals in Sweden, effective as of May 2000. The permission authorises Oriola to start pharmaceutical wholesaling all over Sweden without any limitations of normal pharmaceutical wholesaling activity.

As an authorised pharmaceutical wholesaler, Oriola can now progress according to its growth plans concerning Sweden, the most important neighbour market of Fin-land. Oriola intends to start pharmaceutical wholesaling operations in Sweden as rapidly as possible. Moreover, Oriola is continuing to expand its Dental business to encompass entire Sweden. Oriola started operations in Sweden through the estab-lishment of Oriola Dental in 1998, in southern Sweden.


Oriola
Oriola is a pharmaceutical distributor and a marketer of a broad spectrum of specialty prod-ucts for the healthcare sector. The profound management of the cost-efficient logistic flow of products and associated data is Oriola's core process, the cornerstone upon which various specialised business units are built, each possessing strong know-how of their customer segments. Oriola serves hospitals, healthcare centres, private clinics, pharmacies, veteri-narians, dentists and other players in the healthcare sector with unique efficiency. Oriola's operations encompass thousands of products and equipment of renowned suppliers. In dental, laboratory and hospital equipment, Oriola is the leading supplier in Finland, and is currently increasing presence in Sweden and the Baltic countries.

The operational area of Oriola's pharmaceutical distribution and wholesale currently encom-passes Finland, the Baltic countries and the St. Petersburg region, and is now expanding in Sweden. Here Oriola takes care of continuous availability of the products, and guarantees reliable and safe deliveries. In Finland, Oriola's share of pharmaceutical distribution is 38%.