26
de Setembre
de
2016
Act.
21
de Desembre
de
2016
Unitat (Unity), Ressonància (Resonance), Il·lusió (Enthusiasm), Ambició (Ambition), Confiança (Trust) and Història (History). These Catalan words spell out, Uriach. These are the values that, as an acronym, define the key to the survival of the family firm that has just about reached 180 years of life. "It is the oldest pharmaceutical company in Spain and one of the oldest in Europe," says Oriol Segarra, Uriach CEO and the man who has headed the company that no longer involves family members since 2012.
Uriach's origins go back to 1838, to a chemist shop in the Born neighbourhood of Barcelona. Between then and now, the group that employs 700 workers and that had a turnover of 132 million euros in 2015, has experienced many different phases and epochs. For a company to last so long, Segarra insists, requires a series of conditions. "The family firm has to have a vocation to move onward, and at the same time great capacity for adapting. The world has changed a lot and you have to be able to overcome crises and adapt to the market," he points out.
Five generations, five stages
Today, the family that owns Uriach is into its fifth generation. "Each of them has added a relevant change that has allowed the company to evolve," says Oriol Segarra. The firm was set up by Joan Uriach Feliu, while the second generation "turned the chemist shop into a laboratory," says the current CEO.
"The third generation grew the business, particularly in multinational business licenses sold in Spain," he continues, while "the fourth generation added the R&D component that led to a phase of great expansion with important products that came out of the research, such as Disgren." The road today leads through transformation towards consumer healthcare, "non-prescription products are generating another expansion," says Segarra.
Driving research forward and an exhausted market
In the mid-1950s, Joan Uriach Marsal entered the scene, a member of the fourth generation and the first doctor in pharmacy to become chairman. His scientific training proved decisive in the expansion of a company that went on to make a clear choice in favour of R&D. "It was a very successful period of expansion thanks to different products that came out of research into prescription medicine," says Segarra.
However, around 2006, the company realised that the world of prescription medicine was changing. "All European governments wanted to reduce prices to cut health costs. Research became increasingly expensive, took longer and involved more risk. For a company of the size of Uriach it became difficult to continue making truly innovative products," says Segarra.
All of that combined with signs of a recession in the Spanish market, which the company was very dependent on, led to the development of a new strategy for the future and a series of important changes.
The effort to change the model
"The management model changed and the family decided to restrict its role to shareholders and gave up the day-to-day running," says the current CEO. The business was reoriented so as not to depend on products exclusive to the Spanish market, which "was a model that was becoming exhausted," says Segarra.
While Uriach was already in the consumer health market with historic products like Biodramina, the also well-known Aerored or the range of natural products from the acquired Aquilea, the company decided to go all out. "They are products that do not depend so much on public funding," says Segarra. This reordering of priorities was also the result of the sale of the commercial part of the ethics division (associated with prescription medicines) to the Swiss company, Vifor.
It was a restructuring effort that took until 2012. This stage "was tough because brave decisions had to be taken that are not always easy to make in a family firm." Segarra puts special value on the capacity to anticipate the definitive exhaustion of a model in time to prepare the new strategy.
"It was a tough period because the employees can see that a series of decisions are being taken that are changing the direction, and changes always bring uncertainty and nervousness," he says. Nevertheless, the drawing up the 2013-2017 strategic plan allowed for, according to the current head, "communicating the plans very clearly so that everyone knew where we were going, what the objectives were and what all this effort was for." Segarra uses a very clear metaphor: "It is like a spring, which is hard to compress, but which is needed for it to be able to jump." With the most difficult years overcome and the road to profits recovered, the Uriach CEO believes that "people have understood this period, they have seen the sense in it, the atmosphere is very good and there is an air of optimism."
Health beyond the chemist's
Uriach, therefore, now focuses on products that can be sold outside of chemist shops, all of those that do not require a prescription and that are included in the sphere of consumer healthcare. Nevertheless, they have not given up other B2B activities: "we continue to research and develop generic medicines through product licences that come out of our research, as well as manufacturing for third parties," Segarra points out.
Uriach maintains its successful products that are a result of its R&D, such as Rupatadina or Disgren. In consumer healthcare, it has a strong presence with brands like Biodramina, Aerored, Utabon or Filvit. "They are brands that made us large and that almost everyone has at home," Segarra boasts. Moreover, Aquilea has to be added, an umbrella brand that covers all of their natural products and food complements. Finally, Uriach also has a group of newer brands, "some bought abroad, such as Fisiocrem, which are quickly becoming emblematic."
For the company CEO, the change towards consumer healthcare "is not a response to the fact that pharmaceutical companies have a good or bad image that requires a change. It is a response for the evolution of the business." He insists the market has grown and diversified the range of products. "That is why there is more talk of health than pharmacy, it is more accurate."
More open to the world
Apart from profitable growth, one of the basic pillars of Uriach's strategy is internationalisation. "In 2012 less than 30% of sales were outside Spain. It was a weakness to be so dependent on a single market," says Segarra.
To grow abroad, Uriach looks to have a direct presence in nearby countries, such as a subsidiary in Portugal and the purchase of the Italian firm Laborest. Moreover, they are setting up collaboration with different partners so that "they sell our products in their markets. We already did this with certain products and we have now expanded it into consumer healthcare," he says. Uriach is now present in more than 70 countries with sales outside Spain accounting for 50% of the total. "The aim is to go above 66%," says Segarra.
Uriach's origins go back to 1838, to a chemist shop in the Born neighbourhood of Barcelona. Between then and now, the group that employs 700 workers and that had a turnover of 132 million euros in 2015, has experienced many different phases and epochs. For a company to last so long, Segarra insists, requires a series of conditions. "The family firm has to have a vocation to move onward, and at the same time great capacity for adapting. The world has changed a lot and you have to be able to overcome crises and adapt to the market," he points out.
Five generations, five stages
Today, the family that owns Uriach is into its fifth generation. "Each of them has added a relevant change that has allowed the company to evolve," says Oriol Segarra. The firm was set up by Joan Uriach Feliu, while the second generation "turned the chemist shop into a laboratory," says the current CEO.
"The third generation grew the business, particularly in multinational business licenses sold in Spain," he continues, while "the fourth generation added the R&D component that led to a phase of great expansion with important products that came out of the research, such as Disgren." The road today leads through transformation towards consumer healthcare, "non-prescription products are generating another expansion," says Segarra.
Driving research forward and an exhausted market
In the mid-1950s, Joan Uriach Marsal entered the scene, a member of the fourth generation and the first doctor in pharmacy to become chairman. His scientific training proved decisive in the expansion of a company that went on to make a clear choice in favour of R&D. "It was a very successful period of expansion thanks to different products that came out of research into prescription medicine," says Segarra.
However, around 2006, the company realised that the world of prescription medicine was changing. "All European governments wanted to reduce prices to cut health costs. Research became increasingly expensive, took longer and involved more risk. For a company of the size of Uriach it became difficult to continue making truly innovative products," says Segarra.
All of that combined with signs of a recession in the Spanish market, which the company was very dependent on, led to the development of a new strategy for the future and a series of important changes.
The effort to change the model
"The management model changed and the family decided to restrict its role to shareholders and gave up the day-to-day running," says the current CEO. The business was reoriented so as not to depend on products exclusive to the Spanish market, which "was a model that was becoming exhausted," says Segarra.
While Uriach was already in the consumer health market with historic products like Biodramina, the also well-known Aerored or the range of natural products from the acquired Aquilea, the company decided to go all out. "They are products that do not depend so much on public funding," says Segarra. This reordering of priorities was also the result of the sale of the commercial part of the ethics division (associated with prescription medicines) to the Swiss company, Vifor.
It was a restructuring effort that took until 2012. This stage "was tough because brave decisions had to be taken that are not always easy to make in a family firm." Segarra puts special value on the capacity to anticipate the definitive exhaustion of a model in time to prepare the new strategy.
"It was a tough period because the employees can see that a series of decisions are being taken that are changing the direction, and changes always bring uncertainty and nervousness," he says. Nevertheless, the drawing up the 2013-2017 strategic plan allowed for, according to the current head, "communicating the plans very clearly so that everyone knew where we were going, what the objectives were and what all this effort was for." Segarra uses a very clear metaphor: "It is like a spring, which is hard to compress, but which is needed for it to be able to jump." With the most difficult years overcome and the road to profits recovered, the Uriach CEO believes that "people have understood this period, they have seen the sense in it, the atmosphere is very good and there is an air of optimism."
Health beyond the chemist's
Uriach, therefore, now focuses on products that can be sold outside of chemist shops, all of those that do not require a prescription and that are included in the sphere of consumer healthcare. Nevertheless, they have not given up other B2B activities: "we continue to research and develop generic medicines through product licences that come out of our research, as well as manufacturing for third parties," Segarra points out.
Uriach maintains its successful products that are a result of its R&D, such as Rupatadina or Disgren. In consumer healthcare, it has a strong presence with brands like Biodramina, Aerored, Utabon or Filvit. "They are brands that made us large and that almost everyone has at home," Segarra boasts. Moreover, Aquilea has to be added, an umbrella brand that covers all of their natural products and food complements. Finally, Uriach also has a group of newer brands, "some bought abroad, such as Fisiocrem, which are quickly becoming emblematic."
For the company CEO, the change towards consumer healthcare "is not a response to the fact that pharmaceutical companies have a good or bad image that requires a change. It is a response for the evolution of the business." He insists the market has grown and diversified the range of products. "That is why there is more talk of health than pharmacy, it is more accurate."
More open to the world
Apart from profitable growth, one of the basic pillars of Uriach's strategy is internationalisation. "In 2012 less than 30% of sales were outside Spain. It was a weakness to be so dependent on a single market," says Segarra.
To grow abroad, Uriach looks to have a direct presence in nearby countries, such as a subsidiary in Portugal and the purchase of the Italian firm Laborest. Moreover, they are setting up collaboration with different partners so that "they sell our products in their markets. We already did this with certain products and we have now expanded it into consumer healthcare," he says. Uriach is now present in more than 70 countries with sales outside Spain accounting for 50% of the total. "The aim is to go above 66%," says Segarra.