Swiss company Phytonet AG’s expansion into Serbia, where it established a division for the formulation of final pharmaceutical forms, has proven to be an excellent business move, says Phytonet Executive Director Bojan Pavlović
Speaking in the interview, Dr Bojan Pavlović, Executive Director of Phytonet d.o.o., explains how a strong scientific base is crucial for the development of cutting-edge products to improve human health, while he also shared his experiences in utilising Serbian expertise to create products that are ready to compete on the global market.
How would you describe the development path of your company, which has been dedicated to improving human health and wellbeing since its inception?
— Phytonet, a Swiss company based in Zurich and with an initial focus on the largest European markets, as well as Markets of near east and far east Countries, initially focused on representing manufacturers of innovative active ingredients that straddle the line between food and medicine.
These ingredients are ideal for formulating nutraceuticals, a growing product group of the food supplements market. We refer to these ingredients as “smart ingredients” that either have proven clinical efficacy, a patent, or an approved EFSA health claim, or ideally all three. Phytonet AG distributes and represents such raw materials worldwide, thanks to an extensive business network and local teams of professionals able to easily identify business opportunities to market these products.
In addition to Serbia, we have offices in Istanbul, covering the Turkish and Middle Eastern markets, Singapore, covering the territories of Indonesia and Malaysia, offices in Manila in the Philippines and in Seoul, South Korea, as well as a partner company in Japan. Thus, the division dealing with the distribution of “smart ingredients” is complemented by the division established in Serbia, where final pharmaceutical and food supplement forms are developed and produced.
Serbia is very important for Phytonet and you are very proud of your team, right?
— The Serbian team consists of nearly 60 employees, including ten pharmacists/technologists who work actively on developing final products. It is characteristic for us to have highly educated people with extensive experience in the development of pharmaceutical forms. The research team comprises ten pharmacists and technologists, specialists and doctors of science who joined Phytonet from leading pharmaceutical companies. We represent the core of Phytonet’s development team. We know how to make good, stable and effective final products, which we do on a daily basis.
Serbia was chosen as the location to establish the second division because it has enormous potential and high-quality scientific institutes with capacities and capabilities that far exceed the current local market, and with which Phytonet has established long-term cooperation. I believe I’m not mistaken in saying that, from Istanbul to Vienna, there are no scientific institutes like those in Serbia, especially in Belgrade.
We represent the core of Phytonet’s development team. We know how to make good, stable and effective pharmaceutical products, which we do on a daily basis
We are particularly proud of the fact that a large number of Serbian experts have remained in Serbia to work for international companies, thereby at least partially preventing the brain drain and increasing the competitiveness of Serbian companies.
I would emphasise the fact that Phytonet exports products to all European countries, American countries, the Russian Federation and Far Eastern countries. We have yet to conquer Africa, which is is one of our future goals.
Your commitment to science and research allows you to dictate industry trends?
— By establishing incentives for development companies through the opening of science and technology parks and the BIO4 project, the Serbian government has demonstrated that a significant lever exists that can be used to implement Serbian expertise in creating products that are ready to compete on the global market. In this regard, I would like to mention that the Institute of Molecular Genetics and Genetic Engineering, IMGGI, in Serbia and Phytonet have completed two projects successfully. In one of them we formulated the first Balkan probiotic from indigenous bacterial strains and offered it to the global market, while the other saw us finalise a product that eliminates the Candida fungus from the oral cavity.
Our vision is to continue using all available scientific potential and to identify, with external institutes and companies engaged in fundamental research, new ingredients that could be candidates for our “smart ingredients.” This process works well, which serves the Serbian Phytonet as a testing ground for identifying ingredients that we can offer to the global market.
What are your strengths and unique qualities compared to other companies?
— The great strength of Phytonet’s headquarters is that we have our own teams of experts in each of the countries that we’ve identified as markets with growing potential, and these teams are able to identify local market trends, while our global positioning allows Phytonet AG, as a Swiss company, to set trends that prove commercially successful on local markets.
Serbia has enormous potential with the underutilised scientific institutes established during the time of the large former state, with capacities and capabilities that exceed the needs of the current market
I would like to emphasise that we additionally provide external production and development services to major pharmaceutical companies in the region, including Galenika, Hemofarm, Jugoremedija, Pharmanova and Frontier/Zdravlje from Leskovac, as well as international leaders like Pharmas from Croatia and Superfoods from Greece. We go through the entire process with our clients – from concept and idea, through formulation, to contract manufacturing, after which the product is ready for market. This approach has proven very successful with all the companies with which we collaborate on the markets of Southeast Europe.
Could you tell us about some plans and projects that you are working on currently?
— Launching Hiradophilus, our unique Balkan probiotic, is something we will focus on in the coming period, considering that preserving biodiversity and probiotic niches is a project that the EU has identified as very important. Phytonet will continue to serve as a link between local knowledge and expertise and the global market. We believe that Serbian scientific expertise has nothing to be ashamed of in the global market competition.
Phytonet is organising a large international conference to be held on 19th September this year that will bring together the best regional and global companies and scientific institutes that can offer “smart ingredients” to the market. Phytonet will act as a catalyst for the implementing of Serbian ideas into global products.