Tamro Finland

• net sales EUR 1,032 (1,041) million
• personnel 331
• average market share 54%

Market overview

Last year the total Finnish pharmaceutical market amounted to EUR 1,859 million in PPP, up by 6% from the previous year’s sales figures. In 2007/08, Tamro Finland’s pharmaceutical sales totalled EUR 1,032 (1,041) million, down by 1%. The market share was on average 54%, placing Tamro Finland firmly as the leading pharmaceutical wholesaler in the country.

The Finnish National Agency for Medicines has tightened the Good Distribution Practice guidelines. These guidelines come into force at the beginning of 2008 and they concern, for example, storage, packing and transport of pharmaceuticals.

Finnish pharmacies, too, were affected by the labour conflicts in the healthcare sector in autumn 2007. However, the pharmaceutical wholesale industry was not a party to these events, and hence the pharmaceutical supply chain was successfully secured at all times.  

Main events

The upgrading of the Tampere distribution centre was completed in the beginning of 2008. The Tampere distribution centre is one of the most efficient warehouses in Europe. The objective of this investment was to increase efficiency and quality of the operations and to create more functional and comfortable personnel facilities. 

Moreover Tamro Finland is renewing its stock of refrigerated transport containers. The project was launched in the spring 2007. The structure of the new container helps to maintain the desired temperature throughout the delivery chain by protecting the products better against temperature changes outside the container.

Outlook for 2008/09

Price and margin erosion together with the continued volume growth of pharmaceutical consumption in Finland are exerting heavy pressure on the entire distribution chain. Tamro Finland is operating close to its maximum capacity, and maintenance and further development of sufficient GDP certified capacity will require margin increases in the near future.

Further uncertainty may be generated by new entrants to the pharmaceutical wholesale market, new legislation for example, on Internet pharmacies, and by the planned new reference pricing system of reimbursable pharmaceuticals in 2009.

Tamro Finland will meet the future challenges by consistently developing its operations as the best-quality and most cost-efficient actor in the Finnish pharmaceutical wholesale market. By utilising its European network, Tamro Finland also actively develops and creates added value for manufacturers, other actors in the healthcare sector and for consumers.

Key Figures