PULEVA BIOTECH QUADRUPLES THE CAPACITY OF ITS EUPOLY OMEGA 3® PRODUCTION PLANT
- The increase in the capacity of the plant, which will enable it to increase its current annual production of 500.000 kilos up to 2.000.000 kilos a year, relied on an initial investment of 2MM euros.
- PULEVA Biotech has become the world leader in the commercialisation of LC-Omega 3, with exports representing 40% of its production and a presence on all continents. The billing forecast for 2007 from the sale of Eupoly Omega 3 oil is 4 MM euros, which would represent an increase in excess of 30% on sales in 2006.
- PULEVA Omega 3, whose properties in the prevention of cardiovascular risk factors have been scientifically proven by a number of studies, has become the most widely consumed functional food enriched with Omega-3 fatty acids in the whole world, with more than 500 million litres sold.
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 Photo gallery of press conference |
The strategy of PULEVA Biotech in the medium term is to continue sustaining their growth and consolidate their position within the international market. One of the fundamental pillars of this strategy is the reinforcing of their leading position in the commercialisation of Omega-3 oils at an international level. To achieve these objectives, the company has decided to extend the capacity of the production plant, scaling up from a production of 500.000 kilos to 2.000.000 kilos a year, which represents an initial investment of 2MM euros.
The company has the technical know how necessary to produce functional foods that contain Eupoly Omega 3®, developed by the research centre in 1990, an oil rich in Omega 3 (Epa-Dha) with physiologically active levels. In the last two years, PULEVA Biotech has become the world leader in the sale of LC-Omega 3 on a worldwide level, with exports which currently represent 40% of sales and with a presence on all continents. The billing forecast for 2007 from the sale of Eupoly Omega 3 oil is 4 MM euros, which would represent an increase in excess of 30% on sales in 2006.
In addition, cardiovascular disease is and will continue to be one of the fundamental pillars of PULEVA Biotech's work, with strong support for the business development of our Omega-3 products and processes. In R+D, the company continues to develop new products and processes that enable it to consolidate its position as a benchmark for Omega-3 products on a worldwide scale.
One of the company's main milestones in the development of functional products with Eupoly Omega 3 was the development in 1997 of PULEVA Omega 3. A milk enriched with Omega-3 fatty acids, which has spent 10 years contributing to the prevention of cardiovascular risk factors and which, with 500 million litres sold, has also become the most widely sold functional food with Omega-3 fatty acids in the world.
This enriched milk has been scientifically proven by 8 clinical trials carried out with the product - 3 in healthy individuals and 5 in patients with cardiovascular diseases - which have demonstrated that the consumption of 500 ml of PULEVA Omega 3 has beneficial effects on the reduction of 5 cardiovascular risk factors, amongst them, total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol, a reduction in high levels of triglycerides and a reduction in homocysteine levels. Studies which have also been published in the most prestigious international scientific magazines, such as Clinical Nutrition (2003), Agrofood Industry Hi-tech (2003), Nutrafoods (2003), Nutrition (2004) y Human Nutrition and Metabolism (2005).
A new PULEVA Biotech is born
PULEVA Biotech has taken one more step towards becoming the most powerful business group in the field of biotechnology research in Spain and recently acquired the company Exxentia, specialised in the production and commercialisation of natural extracts of vegetable origin with beneficial effects upon health.“This acquisition provides our company with the market scope and vision needed to establish itself as a solid business project in itself, with greater independence from the Ebro Puleva Group and greater stock market projection”, says Gregorio Jiménez, President of PULEVA Biotech.
Until now, PULEVA Biotech was a centre for research excellence and an important R+D engine for the Ebro Puleva Group. With the integration of Exxentia as a key management figure to optimise the yield of the strong research potential of PULEVA Biotech, the new company acquires the commercial organisation and market vision necessary to strengthen its business focus and consolidate its international position.
The aggregate business figures for both companies in 2007 rose to 20 MM euros, with an EBITDA of 6 MM euros and a net profit of 3,7 MM euros. The dimension of the new company, which also has 146 employees, of which 72 are researchers, make it the only Spanish biotechnology company with economic, material and human resources on this scale.
The new PULEVA Biotech also combines the energy of a young and dinamic company such as Exxentia, with their extensive experience in international markets and a solid portfolio of products and clients, with the excellence of the PULEVA Biotech research team, generating a future project based on the solidity of its R+D in the areas of diet, pharmacology and nutrition.
“The merger of Exxentia with PULEVA Biotech was an excellent opportunity to move forward with the objective we set ourselves on the day we founded Exxentia, to be a benchmark company within the marketplace in a field as important as healthcare. The best partner with whom to embark upon this path was undoubtedly PULEVA Biotech and the Ebro Puleva Group, themselves benchmarks in the world of nutrition and functional food not only in Spain but also outside our borders”, says Juan Carlos de Gregorio, formerly President of Exxentia and new Chief Executive Officer of PULEVA Biotech after the merger.
About PULEVA Biotech
The PULEVA Biotech research centre plays a key role on a national and international level in both the research and development of functional foods as well as the provision of R+D services to third parties.An awareness of the nutritional needs of the population drives PULEVA Biotech to research and develop first class healty foods for the entire family. PULEVA Biotech's strategy, based on a permanent policy of innovation, is oriented towards the search for and development of new bioactive compounds which, incorporated within food, contribute to the prevention of diseases relating to the cardiovascular system, obesity or diabetes. A principle which frames the R+D activity of each and every one of the 146 professionals who form part of PULEVA Biotech, 72 of whom are researchers and more than 30 of whom bear the title of Doctor.