Genesis Pharma S.A.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Greek Pharmaceutical Company GENESIS Pharma S.A., talked to us about the seven years of the company's successful route as well as its prospective targets.

GENESIS Pharma is a relatively new company, incorporated in 1997, specializing in pharmaceutical biotechnology. Due to a well organized work and its founders' enthusiasm - Jacovides brothers and Mr. Constantinos Evripides, GENESIS Pharma's CEO- as well as its employees' enthusiasm, the company managed to be second in turnover, among the Greek pharmaceutical companies. Mr. Evripides stated "We are a company that works collectively; Our employees think like winners and are always trying for the best", stressing out that the company's future plans include its expansion in the Balkan area as well as its share listing on the Athens Stock Exchange.

Mr. Evripides, how did you decide to deal with the admittedly difficult area of pharmaceuticals?

My involvement with the area of pharmaceuticals started in 1985, as President and CEO of Welcome Hellas SA and Welcome plc in Israel. Leaving Welcome, left me with a number of choices. However, I had decided that I would take all the necessary time in order to make the right choice. I already had 10 years experience in a top management position, I was 42 years old and I knew that my next step should have an at least 10 years' potential. Everything started during a business meeting with Jacovides brothers - in fact Alexandros and I were schoolmates in Cyprus - who wanted to expand their business activities in the area of pharmaceuticals in Greece. I myself wanted to make something new and after a number of discussions we realized that we had the same philosophy and shared a common vision: to create a company that would specialize in the area of biotechnology, GENESIS Pharma.

We do not develop or manufacture pharmaceutical products, we import finished specialized products which we distribute and promote.

You are the CEO of a company significantly activated in the Greek pharmaceutical market as well as in the area of Southeast Europe. Which are your main strategic objectives?

Our company's business strategy is focused in Time To Peak sales for the newly launched products as well as the development of the existing products. We are trying to enrich our product portfolio and establish new partnerships with the largest biotechnology companies worldwide. Additionally, our goal is to further expand in Southeast Europe and participate in clinical trials conducted in our country. Finally, our share listing on the Athens Stock Exchange is another important step.

Which is your "natural" field in the pharmaceutical area? What supports your belief that biotechnology constitutes an important research field for the effective treatment of heavy diseases?

GENESIS Pharma's main business activity is focused on the marketing, sales and distribution of specialized products emerging from biotechnology research, for rare and chronic diseases. Biotechnology is temporarily used in four sectors of medicaid: medicines, vaccines, diagnostics and gene therapy.

Pharmaceutical biotechnology exploits the constructional material of the human body - cells, genes, proteins, enzymes and anti-bodies - for the treatment of medical conditions that could not be effectively treated in the past. It's based on new technologies, by which the isolation, copying, breaking and re-combination of the human DNA, as well as the transmission of the DNA from one cell to another, can be now attained. This new knowledge will lead to totally new methods in the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of diseases. According to scientific estimations, 50% of the diseases will be treated in the future through biotechnology. Over 325 million people have already been helped from more than 155 biotechnology medicines and re-combinant vaccines. Furthermore, more than 370 biotechnology medicines are in clinical trials, from 4000 biotechnology companies for 200 different diseases, such as various types of cancer, heart diseases, Multiple Sclerosis, AIDS etc.

The business activities of GENESIS are focused in five therapeutic areas: Central Nervous System, Nephrology, Oncology Haematology and Genetic Disorders. We are familiar with the problems that patients, suffering with chronic diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis and Renal Failure, are facing. Apart from marketing and distribution of pharmaceutical products, our company is gradually involved in product development by participating in clinical trials in our country.

Is the sales and distribution of pharmaceuticals that treat various types of malignancy, one of the company's main targets?

Definitely. Furthermore, GENESIS Pharma's products are marketed, sold and distributed with the proper and scientific information to the doctors, always following the Code of Conduct of SFEE (Hellenic Association of Pharmaceutical Companies)

In GENESIS Pharma, we promote open and direct communication between Management and Employees. We seek people who are eager to work, professionals, enthusiastic and enjoy their jobs. The company provides the employees with all the prerequisites to support them in their jobs. For example we give them responsibilities, we don't tell what they are supposed to do or not to do. Each one knows its job, sets his targets and tries to accomplish them. I never interfere in their projects but I'm always present and always keep my door open. Following this policy, I participate in the departments' meetings, where I try to clearly and precisely communicate our company's vision and strategy. Communication is of course bidirectional, as our employees' participation in decision making concerning the company's crucial subjects, is a constant Management's mission. For this reason, we encourage our employees to constantly express their opinions and comments regarding the company's policies.

Mistakes are forgiven provided they do not recur, and become a means of learning. We are a company that operates as a team. Employees share the winner's attitude. If, for example, a problem occurs, they will try to resolve it in any possible way. Many of the problems might never come to my attention. If any problem occurs they will face it, solve it and get to their target. They always try for the best. What we want as Management is to share success with our employees.

Besides strict commercial activities, GENESIS Pharma develops social activities as well. What is your policy on this field?

We try to be close to the doctor and the patient, who is the final recipient of our products. During the last years we support the Hellenic Society for Multiple Sclerosis.

Does your company support health programs in regions with particularly high needs, such as countries or populations afflicted by poverty?

We recently supported a great initiative, the anthology "EMEIS", which is consisted exclusively of MS patients' literary work and artworks. It was an initiative of our company which aimed to fund, through the promotion and selling of the anthology, the Hellenic Society for Multiple Sclerosis and promote their mission. In order to support this event, there has been a comprehensive presentation of the anthology and the Society's task and mission, in exhibitions that took place in the Athens and Thessaloniki Concert Halls, and in other Greek cities.

If you were to consider your business path until today, would you say it was easy or did you some times have to compromise?

I can't say I compromised a lot. The circumstances that drove me to my current position, is a well planned and organized work, and above all my ethical principles, integrity, enthusiasm as well as my education and experiences in great companies. I believe we all must look forward and keep trying for the best. I learn from my mistakes and look at the future. No one gets successful in the past.

2004 will be a great year for our company. Our short term plans include our further expansion in the area of Southeast Europe as well as our share listing in the Athens Stock Exchange. We will soon establish a representative office in Bulgaria, and the creation of other rep. offices in countries such as Croatia and Slovenia will follow, aiming to cover the Balkans. Additionally, there will be large investments for the company's facilities improvement as well as for new products' development. Due to our knowledge on the existing conditions in the Balkans and exploiting our sub distributors' infrastructure as well as our local knowledge and experience in Greece - as an EU member - we will soon acquire an advantageous position in the health market of Southeast Europe, as one of the top pharmaceutical biotechnology companies.

WHO IS WHO
Mr. Costas Evripides is the Chief Executive Officer and a founding member of GENESIS Pharma.
Born in Nicosia in 1953, Costas Evripides has an Athens University (ASOEE) Economics degree and an MBA from the London Business School. Since 2000, he is being elected President of the Greek arm of the LBS Alumni Association, of which he is also a founding member.
Costas Evripides has a long experience and in-depth knowledge of the pharmaceutical sector, having held senior management positions in multinational companies. He was President and CEO of Wellcome Hellas S.A. and Wellcome plc, Israel and Assistant Country Manager of PepsiCo International in Greece and Cyprus. He is also a Board Member of the Hellenic Association of Pharmaceutical Companies (SFEE).