Building on our successes

In 2023, Octapharma celebrated 40 years of innovation and success since our company was founded in 1983 by two men with a shared vision to provide haemophilia patients with a safe and efficacious factor VIII therapy.

It was also a year of extraordinary achievement in which we paved the way for future growth with new initiatives to attract donors, build our production capacity, improve productivity and efficiency across our organisation, grow our presence in new markets and position ourselves as one of the most attractive employers in our industry.

In this year’s report, we explore some of the many initiatives currently under way to ensure that Octapharma will build on the successes of the past 40 years and remain a global leader in plasma proteins. This includes a look at how we are transforming our working environment to remain an employer of choice in our industry and are enhancing our operations to increase production and meet growing global demand for our products.

Maria Isabel from Mexico and Deni from Indonesia share their inspiring stories about how they overcame life-changing conditions, as Octapharma continues to build our presence in new markets. We also look at new initiatives to develop our critical care portfolio and at how our research and development (R&D) teams overcame significant challenges to provide new treatment options for patients with von Willebrand disease.

During the year, Octapharma exceeded €3 billion in sales for the first time over a cumulative 12-month period ended March 31, 2023. Regulatory inspections by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) were successfully concluded at each of our production sites in Lingolsheim, Vienna, Springe and Stockholm. This was vital to our plans to grow our business in the world’s largest market and is recognition that our production processes meet the highest standards.

Our growth plans in the USA were boosted by the FDA approval in July of our four-factor prothrombin complex concentrate and an expanded approval for our von Willebrand factor in December to include prophylaxis.

As part of our ambitious plans to grow production to meet future demand, we broke ground on an important project to expand our Vienna site. This new construction will more than double the visual inspection and packaging area at the site, to support a planned production increase of almost 50% by 2028.

We also expanded our fleet of donor centres to more than 195 and have begun implementation of a new strategy to improve donor experience and loyalty. These initiatives, and our continued focus on operational excellence and patient care, once again delivered strong growth in sales and profitability in 2023. Sales rose 14.4% in the year to €3.266 billion, while operating income was €436 million.

None of this would have been possible without the hard work and commitment of Octapharma’s nearly 12,000 employees around the world. I would like to thank all of them for their dedication which has made our success possible. I am confident that, with their continuing support, our company is well positioned for future success.

Wolfgang Marguerre
Chairman and CEO, Octapharma Group