EQL Pharma: EQL takes first step to establish itself in Germany and the Netherlands
EQL has now taken the first step to establish itself in Germany and the Netherlands by recruiting key people with knowledge of the local markets who can identify, develop/in-license and launch niche generics for these markets.
The strategy that has worked well in the Nordics will be repeated in these new markets with similar history and healthcare systems. In addition to launching new market-specific products, the existing portfolio of EQL products, both marketed and in the pipeline, may be launched in these countries, provided that the conditions for profitability look good. EQL assesses that both Germany and the Netherlands have price-centric systems, which are very similar to those EQL is used to, and that there are therefore good opportunities to build niche portfolios with significant financial impact within 3-4 years.
In the long term, the plan is to expand the establishments in Germany and the Netherlands to include Austria and Switzerland (DACH) and Belgium and Luxembourg (BeNeLux) respectively, in the same way that EQL Pharma started in Sweden and later established itself in the rest of the Nordics.
The direct sales of EQL products in Germany and the Netherlands will not affect the partnerships we have for our brands Mellozzan (melatonin) and Memprex (methenamine hippurate). Our local partners Medice and Goodlife are experts in the relevant therapeutic areas with good market knowledge and contacts that take many years to build. EQL therefore sees these partnerships as remaining strategically important. For the same reason, it may well be possible to launch new partnerships in these countries in the future if we judge it to be a better model than direct sales for a particular product or therapeutic area.