Slučiak family wound down drug wholesaler but keeps eye drops production
The Slučiak family has been winding down its drug wholesaler, Unimed, since August 2018, despite being among the market leaders. It focused only on its other firm, Unimed Pharma, which makes eye drops. Back in 2015, Unimed had €84.7m sales and 150 workers, but it has been barely breaking even for some time. On the other hand, Unimed Pharma posted a €2.2m net profit on €12m sales last year. The family would not comment on reasons for the move, nor it would say whether it tried to sell the wholesaler. In 2018, Unimed Pharma was forced to pause production for several months due to hygiene violations.
In recent years, drug wholesalers Phoenix ZZ (€670m sales) and Med-Art (€348m) have been gaining ground. Founder Tomislav Jurik left the market No.2 Unipharma (€507m) earlier this year and Milan Vrúbel now owns a 51% stake. František Hodorovský, who financed the purchase, has a lien on the stake.