The Tenth of Ramadan for Pharmaceutical Industries and Diagnostic Reagents (Rameda), a leading pharmaceuticals manufacturer in Egypt, has reported its new antiviral medication successfully opened up new export markets for the company. This included opening up new export markets in the Levant, which took the lion's share of the group's export volumes for the first quarter (Q1) of 2021. CEO of Rameda Amr Morsy said, "After international restrictions related to the [novel coronavirus (COVID-19)] pandemic eased, combined with growing regional demand for Rameda's new antiviral medication for the treatment of COVID-19, the Group's export volume increased by 96.8% y-o-y to 0.7 million units in Q1 of 2021." Morsy said that the antiviral medication's performance reflected positively on the company's export revenues, which recorded more than a four-fold increase y-o-y to EGP 22.7m in Q1 of 2021. Meanwhile, Rameda saw a book top line growth of 17% year-on-year (y-o-y) to EGP 270.8m in Q1 of 2021, with profit after minority interest growing by 26% y-o-y to EGP 30.2m for the period. The company's consolidated revenues grew by 16.5% y-o-y to EGP 270.8m on the back of the Group's optimised portfolio strategy. This was coupled with a ramp-up in sales of its new COVID-19 related antiviral products, Anviziram and Remdesivir, both domestically and internationally in Q1 of 2021. Total volume sold, excluding toll sales, declined by 10.6% y-o-y to 14.9m units in Q1 of 2021 on the back of a 27.9% y-o-y decrease in tender volumes, the Group's largest contributing segment in the quarter. Rameda is currently completing the registration process to export its products to select Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and Eastern European markets. This is with the aim of expanding its operations and unlocking additional value for the Group and its stakeholders. "We remain focused on bringing new products to the market and growing our comprehensive portfolio as well expanding our offering into new therapeutic areas and markets beyond our home borders," Morsy added. "This quarter, we added two new products to Rameda's growing portfolio, Doxytroler and Opranate." He noted that in line with its portfolio optimisation strategy, the company expects the solid performance from Doxytroler and Opranate to support top line and gross margin growth within their therapeutic areas.
