Reig Jofre will invest in a new plant for the manufacture of biological products

The pharmaceutical company Reig Jofre wants to complete its pharmaceutical division with a new production center specialized in the manufacture of biological products and control the entire value chain, from the elaboration of the active ingredient to the finished product. The CEO of Reig Jofre, Ignasi Biosca, explained that the new industrial asset, for which he has not quantified the investment, should be close to the facilities that the company has in Sant Joan Despí.

The company plans to work on new biological products both for other pharmaceutical laboratories and emerging biotechnology companies, as well as for hospitals or multinationals that require an industrial partner who can carry out the entire complete value chain.

Without further details on the project, Biosca stated that the interest in diversifying activities is included in the company's strategic plan for the next three years, after the actions initially planned to expand the production capacity of injectables in Sant Joan Despí were accelerated in 2020, following the agreement reached with the Johnson & Johnson group for the manufacture of the Covid-19 vaccine from Janssen.

Reig Jofre invested 40 million euros in this factory in the last three years and "devoted itself" to preparing to produce up to 30 million doses of the vaccine, a volume that was ultimately not reached, with the incorporation of 125 people, of whom 100 are still employed. For this reason, since this year, it has resumed production for other clients and has focused on the validation processes of new products. The idea is to gradually recover its initial plan, the original clients and the products for which the factory structure was designed before covid broke out: "The injectable market continues to be an activity with growing demand worldwide, whether for a covid vaccine or for other treatments," Biosca insisted.

For this 2022, Reig Jofre laboratories expect injectables and antibiotics to be "key" for the company's growth and wants to intensify the internationalization of the rest of the products. Regarding investments, the CEO specified that they will be in line with those made in the last year and that they amounted to about 16 million euros.

The listed family business has presented its 2021 results, with 3% sales growth, up to 236 million euros, and profits of 5.1 million, a figure 10% lower than in 2020, due to expenses associated with the new plant and other amortizations. By business segments, the Pharmaceutical Technologies division, dedicated to injectables and antibiotics, saw a 7% drop in revenue compared to the previous year, basically due to the decrease in antibiotic consumption, since, on the one hand, the use of masks as a preventive measure controlled bacterial infections, and on the other, healthcare centers reduced surgical activity and antibiotic use.

However, according to Biosca, this decrease has been offset by the increase in prescription drugs—mainly osteoarticular drugs—where revenues have risen by 14%. In this Pharmacare division, the demand for dermatological products also recovered, after a 2020 with a pronounced decline in this type of treatment. In 2021, revenues from the group's third division, the range of personal care products and food supplements, also rose by 8%.