Highlights in the Year 2003
6. 1. 2003 |
Lek d.d, a Slovene pharmaceutical company, has entered the world's largest pharmaceuticals market with its leading product, co-amoxiclav. By entering the U.S. market, Lek has, to date, achieved its most far-reaching business goal. On its first working day, January 2, 2003, Lek's affiliated company, Lek Pharmaceuticals, Inc., sold $27 million worth of co-amoxiclav.
Silver medal for effective advertising at the 1st Slovene festival of communications effectiveness - EFFIE
9. 1. 2003 |
Silver Effie awards were won by Lek for their advertising campaign for Lekadol plus C - Beat flu and colds without stomach trouble, by the Arih agency, and Citroen's campaign Repositioning Citroen in Slovenia 1996-2002. In the opinion of the jury, the Lekadol plus C campaign was a successful example of the introduction of a new product by which an already existing brand name is expanded on the highly regulated pharmaceuticals market. Through advertising, the market results exceeded the planned sales targets, and the campaign also contributed to the increased success of the entire brand.
Slovakian Minister of Health visits Lek
11. 4. 2003 |
On Friday, 11 April, we hosted a delegation from the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Slovakia. The delegation, led by the Minister of Health Rudolf Zajac, was received at Lek by the Chairman of the Lek Managing Board Metod Dragonja, head of sales of pharmaceutical products for the area of South-Eastern Europe Andrej Pardo and Janez Kecler, head of Lek's representative office in Slovakia.
A new Member of Lek Management Board
1. 6. 2003 |
On 1 June 2003 a new member joined the Lek Management Board, also taking up the position of the new Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Gottfried Rieser has served for the last three years as Head of Treasury at Biochemie GmbH, a company operating within the Sandoz business unit.
Lek main sponsor of WONCAEUROPE 2003
21. 6. 2003 |
The successful organization of the 9th conference of the European association of general practice and family medicine WONCAEUROPE 2003, which was held from June 18 to 21, 2003 in Ljubljana, brought a great deal of recognition to its main organizers - the Family Medicine Section of the Slovene Medical Association - as well as to Slovenia and the Lek pharmaceutical company as the main sponsor.
Lek at the half-year very dynamic and successful
18. 8. 2003 |
The Lek Business Group has achieved excellent results in the first half of 2003. Growth of operations exceeded all regional competitors and we were the leading comparably-sized pharmaceutical company in Central and Eastern Europe in terms of sales.
21. 8. 2003 |
After the registration of the product at the US Food and Drug Administration in February 2003, the Novartis business group passed a decision to begin sales of generic 10- and 20-milligram capsules containing omeprazole on the US market. This is a generic product based on pellet technology which was developed by Lek on the basis of its own patents.
25. 8. 2003 |
The President of the Polish Government, Mr Leszek Miller, visited Lek's new plant, a Manufacturing and Logistics Centre in Strykow. The President of the Polish Government, Mr Leszek Miller, was informed of the plans and activities of the company Lek S.A. in the Polish market, and expressed his support for this investment.
Industry award for Lek Pharmaceuticals Inc.
20. 9. 2003 |
At the 2003 annual trade conference of the Cardinal Health Group, the largest pharmaceutical wholesaler in the US, Lek was singled out for special recognition. Mr. Steve Ater, Lek's Director of National Accounts, was awarded the prestigious "Generics Trade Representative of the Year Award".
25. 9. 2003 |
After years of fruitful cooperation, the co- founders and co-shareholders of Bayer Pharma d.o.o. decided on an ownership change in a Joint Venture. Lek will support Bayer Pharma d.o.o.'s restructuring program providing employment for a number of its employees.
15. 10. 2003 |
The pharmaceutical company Lek submitted adjusted prices for its leading products to the Agency for Medicinal Products of the Republic of Slovenia (the Agency). This will make it possible for patients to continue using existing therapies without co-payment. Without this move, as of November 1 2003, patients would have had to pay for the added costs of drugs as established by the decrees of the Public Health Insurance Institute of the Republic of Slovenia - ZZZS.
25. 11. 2003 |
After the settlement signed in July of 2003 between GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK) and Novartis, including Lek d.d. Ljubljana, Lek Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Lek Services Inc., USA, Lek's sales of their successful product on the American market were given further support by the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which passed a decision revoking a total of seven GSK patents for their antibiotic Augmentin®.
3. 12. 2003 |
The Slovene Chamber of Commerce, bestowed the award of Innovator of the Year 2002 to a group composed of Dr. Viktor Menart and Mag. Simona Jevsevar from the Lek pharmaceutical company and Dr. Vladka Gaberc-Porekar from the Institute of Chemistry. The group won top honors for their project of obtaining recombinant proteins using innovative solutions (development of producer cells, biosynthesis technology and a procedure for isolating recombinant proteins).
23. 12. 2003 |
The Slovene pharmaceutical company Lek d.d. has successfully defended its patent EP 1 095 037, which covers Lek's synthesis of omeprazole, before the Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office.