Besides the markets in which the group is well established, the company’s international expansion has now set its sights on Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region, because of their respective future prospects and potential growth for the use of blood products in health care systems.

The internationalization of the company was not the only key to the success of this Catalan multinational. By adopting a vertically integrated business model, Grifols has positioned itself among the ranks of the leading worldwide producers of blood products. This model is used to control all phases of the production process, which are monitored “from the time of plasma collection within the donation center network until the time of marketing.” Because the entire product cycle is controlled in this way, “we are able to watch our costs and ensure our supply of raw materials,” Nuria Pascual assures.

From the corporate standpoint, the decision to go public five years ago has given Grifols access to financial capital markets under the same conditions as its main competitors.

RESEARCH: OF VITAL IMPORTANCE

Laboratorios Grifols is organized into three main divisions that offer specialized goods and services.

The first is the Hospital Division, which provides solutions for clinical nutrition, intravenous therapy, and medical devices used in hospitals and hospital pharmacies.

The second is the Diagnostic Division, which specializes in the research, development, manufacturing, and marketing of diagnostic products for laboratory analyses, including tools that are used in hospital blood banks and transfusion centers.

Lastly, the Bioscience Division focuses on the research, development, and marketing of blood products and accounts for practically 90% of company revenues.
Along with these main divisions, the multinational has an area specializing in engineering, Grifols Engineering, which acts as a pharmaceutical consultant in biotechnology and sterile products.

R&D in all of these divisions is of vital importance, as clearly proven by Grifols’ R&D investments, which totaled over €40 million in 2010, or 4.1% of sales. In the first half of 2011, R&D spending including the technical area exceeded €30 million, “which represents 4.7% of sales and is double the amount spent on research in the first half of 2010,” according to the company.

Grifols has a large portfolio of R&D projects in each of the company’s divisions. In the Bioscience area, for instance, research is being done on various proteins in important areas of oncology, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, regenerative medicine, clotting, and several specific applications with potential such as prolongation of the half-life of clotting factors and treatment for medicine overdoses.

Diagnostic Division R&D focuses on the development of reagents and equipment for hemostasis diagnostics and pre-transfusion testing, whereas Hospital Division research emphasizes the development of complementary products as well as improvements in the safety and efficacy of existing products.

In addition to research, Grifols currently works on other projects and medical studies, including a study on the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease in which therapeutic plasmapheresis is combined with the intravenous administration of albumin and immunoglobulin. “The study, which began in 2011, will be conducted in 300 patients and is the continuation of another trial carried out in another 42 patients in collaboration with two hospitals in Spain and two in the United States, whose preliminary results have already been released,” explains Nuria Pascual.

Carmelo Hermoso de Mendoza
ArtIcle published in December 2011

Besides the markets in which the group is well established, the company’s international expansion has now set its sights on Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region, because of their respective future prospects and potential growth for the use of blood products in health care systems.

The internationalization of the company was not the only key to the success of this Catalan multinational. By adopting a vertically integrated business model, Grifols has positioned itself among the ranks of the leading worldwide producers of blood products. This model is used to control all phases of the production process, which are monitored “from the time of plasma collection within the donation center network until the time of marketing.” Because the entire product cycle is controlled in this way, “we are able to watch our costs and ensure our supply of raw materials,” Nuria Pascual assures.

From the corporate standpoint, the decision to go public five years ago has given Grifols access to financial capital markets under the same conditions as its main competitors.

RESEARCH: OF VITAL IMPORTANCE

Laboratorios Grifols is organized into three main divisions that offer specialized goods and services.

The first is the Hospital Division, which provides solutions for clinical nutrition, intravenous therapy, and medical devices used in hospitals and hospital pharmacies.

The second is the Diagnostic Division, which specializes in the research, development, manufacturing, and marketing of diagnostic products for laboratory analyses, including tools that are used in hospital blood banks and transfusion centers.

Lastly, the Bioscience Division focuses on the research, development, and marketing of blood products and accounts for practically 90% of company revenues.
Along with these main divisions, the multinational has an area specializing in engineering, Grifols Engineering, which acts as a pharmaceutical consultant in biotechnology and sterile products.

R&D in all of these divisions is of vital importance, as clearly proven by Grifols’ R&D investments, which totaled over €40 million in 2010, or 4.1% of sales. In the first half of 2011, R&D spending including the technical area exceeded €30 million, “which represents 4.7% of sales and is double the amount spent on research in the first half of 2010,” according to the company.

Grifols has a large portfolio of R&D projects in each of the company’s divisions. In the Bioscience area, for instance, research is being done on various proteins in important areas of oncology, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, regenerative medicine, clotting, and several specific applications with potential such as prolongation of the half-life of clotting factors and treatment for medicine overdoses.

Diagnostic Division R&D focuses on the development of reagents and equipment for hemostasis diagnostics and pre-transfusion testing, whereas Hospital Division research emphasizes the development of complementary products as well as improvements in the safety and efficacy of existing products.

In addition to research, Grifols currently works on other projects and medical studies, including a study on the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease in which therapeutic plasmapheresis is combined with the intravenous administration of albumin and immunoglobulin. “The study, which began in 2011, will be conducted in 300 patients and is the continuation of another trial carried out in another 42 patients in collaboration with two hospitals in Spain and two in the United States, whose preliminary results have already been released,” explains Nuria Pascual.

Carmelo Hermoso de Mendoza
ArtIcle published in December 2011