Athens, 31 January 2017

The pharmaceutical manufacturer Demo SA wished everyone a productive year at their New Year’s Corporate event. The event, held on Friday, January 27, in a venue at Varibobi, Attica, was attended by Demo employees and representatives of cooperating bank and suppliers.
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In his welcome speech, the Chairman of Demo, Stavros Demos, expressed his complete satisfaction and thanked all employees for their contribution to the company’s success: ‘2016 was a hard year for the Greek pharmaceutical industry, but we managed to face it by focusing on exports and dedicating ourselves to quality. At the same time, we increased employment (70 people were hired in 2016) and implemented innovative benefit projects for the female employees of Demo’.
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For his part, the Vice-Chairman of Demo, Dimitrios Demos, thanked all 50 departments of the company, naming them one by one. The Quality Assurance Department, which monitors all production and control activities, ensuring strict compliance of the company with the applicable international standards, has contributed to the success and international recognition of the quality of Demo products. The Research and Development Laboratory serves the commitment of the company to develop 8-10 new products each year, and now Demo produces 1,500 preparations’, he said.
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‘Sales on the domestic market remained at the same level as in 2015,’ he continued, ‘although the Greek pharmaceutical market finds itself in an unprecedented situation, which is difficult to manage, especially for non export-oriented Greek companies. The strongest blow to pharmaceutical companies in Greece in recent years, besides of course the obvious one, i.e. the uncontrolled reduction in prices, especially for already affordable domestically produced drugs, is the imposition of horizontal measures such as rebate and clawback.’
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“What therefore made the difference, was Demo’s export potential, as the growth rate of Demo’s exports is 47% annually, and the majority of our production (81%) is directed to markets abroad, in 80 countries on all continents’, stressed the Vice-President.   
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Finally, and this was news to all employees, the investment plan launched 3 years ago, with a budget of 35 million euros, concerning further modernisation and expansion of DEMO’s facilities, will be completed in 2017.  These were investment plans fell behind over the last two years and were delayed because of government debts to pharmaceutical manufacturers.
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‘Since spring 2016, the company has received new machines with huge production capacity (plastic ampoule machines and lyophilizers), and new machines will complement further modernisation of the penem and cephalosporin lines next month. For all these reasons, it is time to start building the 4th plant in Kryoneri where DEMO is already based’, Mr Demos concluded, to applause from the audience.
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The event continued with video projections of all Demo’s ‘top highlights’ from the past year and entertainment until late in the evening.
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