Bangalore, Mar 19, 2010: Elder Pharmaceuticals, manufacturer of Shelcal, has extended its control over its Bulgarian acquisitions by hiking stake in its Bulgarian subsidiary, Elder Biomeda, to 61 percent from the present 51 percent for an undisclosed sum. The remaining 39 percent stake in Elder Biomeda is held by the original owners of Biomeda Group. In April 2008, Elder had formed a subsidiary in Bulgaria called Elder Biomeda which acquired 100 percent equity in three leading Bulgarian healthcare companies belonging to the Biomeda Group. The original owners of Biomeda Group companies were in exchange given 49 percent shares of Elder Biomeda at that time.

“This shall be our strategic gateway to the EU and CIS markets. Bulgaria offers low infrastructure cost (compared to other EU countries), lower production and labor cost and low construction cost as compared to other EU countries. Additionally, the WHO GMP approved and US FDA compliant seven manufacturing units of Elder in India will offer its nutraceuticals product range internationally acquired companies,” says Mr Alok Saxena, Director - International, Elder Pharmaceuticals.

Of the three companies one has a manufacturing unit for formulations, another is a distribution company for pharmaceutical and allied products and the third is a logistics company with strategically located warehouses. Biomeda is among the top 10 distributors and manufacturers of oral dosage pharmaceutical formulations in Bulgaria. Elder is planning to establish its presence in major regulated markets with specific focus on EU and CIS countries. The Bulgarian entities will launch many products in the next 8-10 months in that region.

Europe remains an attractive market to launch pharmaceutical products, because centralized regulatory ruling allows for immediate access to all member states. Also, EU expansion to 27 countries offers greater market opportunities. By 2012, Elder is targeting a pan-European presence, covering all the key markets of Europe which will be the stepping stone towards spreading its footprints across the world – both in regulated as well as unregulated markets.