The Finnish pharmaceutical and healthcare wholesaling company Oriola Oy and the French pharmaceutical company Aventis Pharma International S.A. have entered into a pre-wholesaling agreement on pharmaceutical exports to Russia. According to the agreement, effective as of 1 February, the Aventis products to be exported to Russia are stored by Oriola in Finland, and Oriola will forward the products over the boarder.
Exports by Aventis via Oriola to local wholesalers mainly in Moscow and St. Petersburg comprise products from several manufacturing plants in different parts of the world. Oriola's role here is to maintain a buffer storage large enough for the Russian markets as well as to see to it that the EU standards of Good Distribution Practise are adhered to throughout the entire logistic chain.
- We require unconditional certainty of qualified know-how of pharmaceutical wholesaling and logistics, says Horst Luebke, Assistant Director for Aventis East European operations.
- Our volumes are large and this is a new model of operations. In the negotiations we became fully convinced of Oriola's qualifications in every respect, which was decisive for our choice.
Aventis Pharma is one of the world's biggest pharmaceutical companies. Its 2001 sales in Russia alone amounted to more than USD 100 million, whereby Aventis Pharma was the market leader for imported pharmaceuticals in the country.
Oriola, part of the healthcare group Orion, is a logistic expert committed to pharmaceutical distribution and wholesaling in Finland and the neighbouring regions. Its operations comprise a broad range of products for the healthcare sector. Oriola's invoicing in 2001 came to over EUR 600 million and its share of pharmaceutical distribution in Finland is about one-third.