9. 5. 2019

Krka marks its anniversary with unveiling of Krka girl with a growing book

5 min. read

Novo mesto, 25 April 2019 – On 23 April 1954, District People’s Committee in Novo mesto issued a decree to establish the Krka Pharmaceutical Laboratory. On 25 April 2019, two days after the foundation date, we held a celebration to honour the company’s 65th anniversary. President of the Management Board and CEO of Krka Jože Colarič pointed out on the occasion that Krka had evolved into one of the most successful generic pharmaceutical companies thanks to innovative and creative work by generations of company employees. We marked the anniversary by unveiling the statue of a Krka girl with a growing book at the entrance in the Notol 2 plant, our state-of-the-art solid dosage form production facility in Novo mesto. We believe that growth in the international environment can only be achieved through knowledge and dedicated work of company employees, which the statue of a Krka girl with a growing book symbolises.

Our company has evolved from a small laboratory into a major international company. The number of personnel has increased over the years from a handful in the small laboratory to more than 12,500 employees in 45 subsidiaries and representative offices across the world. The statue of a Krka girl with a growing book was unveiled by two company employees and successful young doctors of science Saša Rožman and Ervin Šinkovec. It symbolises Krka and its employees who contribute to the company growth, its development and excellence with their expertise, perseverance and committed approach to work. The statue of Slovenian stone, Hotavlje marble, was made by Jurij Smole, an academic sculptor, and represents company employees – a book in progress of creation.

According to Jože Colarič, modern Krka has been created by company employees, who have worked and lived in different eras, yet shared the same values: speed and flexibility, partnership and trust, creativity and efficiency. These values are solid foundations for our business culture and entrepreneurial vision, which guides us in the pursuit of our mission to help people around the world live healthy lives.

The anniversary offers the opportunity to look at the most significant milestones of our operations: the first business deals abroad, the construction of production facilities in Ločna, Novo mesto, or the decisive strategic decision to substitute licensed products with our own innovative generics. From our beginnings, we have invested in R&D, built factories in Slovenia and abroad, established vertically integrated production, and expanded our marketing-and-sales network.

We are among top generic producers in the world, perform well in all our existing markets and successfully enter new ones, and strengthen our position through new investments. We are an established player in the countries of Western, Central, Eastern, and South-Eastern Europe. We have strengthened our presence in overseas markets as well, in particular in the markets of the Middle and Far East, Africa, and the Americas. Our production facilities are in Slovenia, the Russian Federation, Poland, Croatia, and Germany, and we have started the manufacture of our own products in China. Export accounts for 93% of the Krka Group total sales. ‘We have established a strong network of subsidiaries and representative offices abroad, and we have been increasing our production capacities outside Slovenia. Krka medicines are used to treat 45 million patients in the world every day, and the credit for that goes to former and present company employees,’ says Jože Colarič.

Our company invests approximately 10% of annual sales revenues in research and development. The company will continue to strengthen the pharmaceutical and chemical sectors and increase the range of medicines in key therapeutic areas, in particular medicines for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases, the central nervous system, and the alimentary tract and metabolism. We will also focus on other promising therapeutic areas, such as analgesics and oncology medicines, antidiabetics, antibiotics, and antivirals, and enter new therapeutic areas. We intend to continue the introduction of innovative generic products to key therapeutic areas, including fixed-dose combinations of two or three active substances, new strengths, and new dosage forms. We have entered the market of similar biological medicines, notably autoimmune agents and medicines for the treatment of diabetes. Our company plans to strengthen the range of non-prescription products and animal health products, primarily companion animal products, in selected therapeutic areas.

Krka employees believe that knowledge, hard work, and trust in the future will help us write new chapters in the company history in decades to come.