Govt signs partnership agreement with Egis

Budapest, December 2 (MTI) – Hungary’s government signed a strategic agreement with French-owned drugmaker Egis on Monday.

The agreement was signed by state secretary for foreign affairs and external economic relations Peter Szijjarto and Egis’s chief executive, Istvan Hodasz.

Hodasz said the strategic partnership was based on cooperation that is advantageous to both parties. At the same time, Egis inaugurated a 4.6 billion forint (EUR 15m) R+D centre in the capital.

“[T]he government is ready to encourage innovation and R+D activities of Egis in Hungary …. In addition, the agreement also addresses the strengthening and the promotion of exports of own products manufactured in the plants of Egis located in Hungary,” Egis said on the website of the Budapest Stock Exchange.

Egis said the centre would allow it to develop “cutting-edge, high-potency” active ingredients. It received 1.15 billion forints in European Union and state support for the investment.

Egis has in its drug portfolio some 530 products and about 120 active ingredients and it turns almost 140 million packs of medicines a year.

About 80 percent of Egis’s more than 130 billion forints of annual revenue comes from exports. On the domestic market, Egis is the third-biggest player, based on sales volume.

Photo: MTI – Szilárd Koszticsák

Source: http://hungarymatters.com/