Sanofi-aventis, a leading global pharmaceutical company announced today that it has signed a agreement with Apex Pharma, to market, promote and distribute selected Sanofi-aventis’ products. Sanofi-aventis is a global pharmaceutical giant based in France and the number one multinational pharmaceutical in Bangladesh. Patient need is at the core of all activities of Sanofi-aventis. It strives to ensure the availability of quality drugs to maximum number of patients. The selected brands will be from various therapeutic areas like gastrointestinal, anti-infective, pain management, central nervous system and cardiovascular. Sandom, Fiprox, Inflam D, Frisium and Lasilactone are the brands from Sanofi-aventis that will be promoted by Apex Pharma. The ground breaking agreement which will take advantage of both companies’ strengths to deliver high quality medicines to the maximum number of doctors, chemists & patients” quoted A. M. Faruque, Managing Director of Apex Pharma. Iftekharul Islam, Managing Director of Sanofi-aventis Bangladesh Limited said, “Through this agreement we are appointing Apex Pharma as the distributor for our five selected products and we believe their broad coverage will be a useful addition for the purpose of offering quality medicines to a maximum number of doctors, pharmacies and patients". The agreement furthers Sanofi-aventis commitment to ensure the reach of their quality drugs to maximum number of patients. Apex Pharma’s broad coverage of doctors and chemists will strengthen the promotion and distribution of the products. More doctors and chemist coverage means that more patients will now have access to Sanofi-aventis’ quality products.

Apex Pharma Ltd. creates history in the Bangladesh pharma industry by introducing the first-ever team of professional graduate pharmacists as “Medico-Marketing Executives”. The aim of this unique initiative is to significantly enhance the quality of pharmaceutical company medicinal communication and services to the medical profession. It will contribute a new dimension to the relationship between pharmaceutical manufacturers and the medical community that will provide a notable benefit to the healthcare system by encouraging best use of Apex Pharma’s quality range of products. This initiative is comprised of more than 100 fully trained pharmacists as the first phase. Importantly, it also creates a new career path for pharmacists in Bangladesh. A special ceremony was organized at the Conference Centre of Apex Pharma in the evening of 28th May 2011. Senior faculty members from different Pharmacy Universities were also present and participated. Mr. A.M. Faruque, Managing Director and CEO of Apex Pharma made the keynote speech welcoming all guests. He emphasized the many benefits of the Medico-Marketing process, including Apex Pharma’s quality of prescription service, and its importance to both the healthcare and education systems. He described medico-marketing as an exchange of information between the manufacturer of medicines and the prescribing doctors. The concluding speech was made by Mr. Syed Manzur Elahi, Chairman of Apex Pharma Ltd. Mr. Elahi expressed his confidence that the vision and mission of the company would be realized under the capable leadership of Apex Pharma’s new management team comprising of professionals. He also expressed his belief that to be successful, a pharmaceutical company must employ professionals who have a strong knowledge of Pharmacy and have proven expertise in the industry.