“Products & Care” segment

The “Retail” business area comprises the two sectors “Local Pharmacies” (POS) and “Pharmacies at Home” (mail-order and home care), while the “Professionals” business area consists of the “Products & Brands” and “Services for Professionals” sectors.

Both business areas focus on the development, marketing and sale of healthcare services and products through the various Galenica distribution channels. Depending on their needs, end customers (B2C) can benefit from their own bricks-and-mortar pharmacies, home care services, mail-order pharmacies and online shops. Galenica also supports healthcare providers (B2B) such as pharmacies, drugstores, physicians, care homes, hospitals and home care organisations as a strong partner.

“Products & Care” segment development

Net sales development

The “Products & Care” segment generated net sales of CHF 804.4 million (+4.2%) in the first half of 2023. Of this, CHF 679.1 million (+2.1%, excluding Coop Vitality and Mediservice) was attributable to the “Retail” (B2C) business area and CHF 128.6 million (+17.6%) to the “Professionals” (B2B) business area.

“Retail” business area (B2C)

Net sales development

In the first half of 2023, the “Retail” business area generated net sales of CHF 679.1 million (+2.1%, excluding Coop Vitality and Mediservice). Of this, CHF 640.2 million (+1.9%) was attributable to “Local Pharmacies” (POS) and CHF 39.1 million (+4.6%) to “Pharmacies at Home” (mail-order and home care).

Government-ordered price reductions led to a 1.4% decline in sales in the reporting period. Excluding this effect, net sales in the “Retail” business area would have risen by 3.5%.

Galenica acquires a stake in “Benecura public”

With the aim of linking digital opportunities with local expertise, Galenica made a strategic investment in the first half of 2023 by acquiring 16% of AD Swiss Net Ltd., the e-health provider for FMH, Ärztekasse and HIN (standard for secure communication for healthcare professionals). The “Benecura public” app supports chronically ill people with their treatment. The next step will be to integrate the services provided by the Galenica Group’s pharmacies.

Daniele Madonna appointed member of the Management Board of Pharmasuisse

In mid-June, the Pharmasuisse delegates elected Daniele Madonna, Chief Health Care Officer and member of the Executive Committee at Galenica, to the Management Board of the Swiss Association of Pharmacists for the 2024–2026 term. Daniele Madonna will represent the interests of the pharmacy chains in particular in the association and contribute his many years of management and industry experience.

“Local Pharmacies” sector

In the first half of 2023, the “Local Pharmacies” sector generated net sales of CHF 640.2 million (+1.9%, excluding Coop Vitality). The expansion of the pharmacy network accounted for 0.4% of the sales growth. Adjusted for the exceptional sales related to COVID-19 (self-tests, COVID vaccinations and rapid tests) in the same period of the previous year, growth of “Local Pharmacies” amounted to 3.7%. Government-ordered price reductions led to a 1.4% decline in sales in the reporting period. Excluding this effect, net sales in the “Local Pharmacies” sector would have risen by 3.3%.

By way of comparison, drug sales from bricks-and-mortar pharmacies in Switzerland (prescription [Rx] and OTC products) grew by 6.4% in the reporting period (IQVIA, Pharmaceutical Market Switzerland, first half of 2023). The consumer healthcare market grew by 3.3% year on year (IQVIA, Consumer Health Market Switzerland, first half of 2023, excluding COVID self-tests).

Further services and advice offered in pharmacies

The Group’s bricks-and-mortar pharmacies play a key role in Galenica’s push to integrate and connect healthcare in Switzerland. They remain important, as evidenced by the increase in the number of healthcare services and consultations provided, which grew by 34% to around 70,200 (first half of 2022: 52,500). Pharmacy staff are not only able to provide comprehensive advice on the most common and uncomplicated health problems. If a medical consultation is necessary, more complex cases can increasingly be treated directly at the pharmacy thanks to the inclusion of telemedical consultations.

The experience gained from the pilot project “Book a Doc” in around 25 pharmacies of Amavita, Sun Store and Coop Vitality is viewed positively by employees and customers alike. Often, the entire process of speaking to the pharmacy, completing the digital medical consultation and obtaining a recommendation for treatment, and waiting for the pharmacist to check the prescription and hand over the required medication took no more than 15 minutes. Over the coming months, Galenica will further refine this important contribution to low-threshold, integrated healthcare and roll it out at additional locations. This also includes the ongoing, very constructive discussions with health insurers regarding payment for qualified pharmacy services.

Vaccination in pharmacies is becoming established

Pharmacies are also becoming more and more established when it comes to vaccinations. Towards the end of the first half of 2023, Galenica launched a pilot project for the whooping cough vaccination, which can be administered at pharmacies in 14 cantons. As part of another pilot project in the cantons of Basel-Land, Basel-Stadt and Zurich, people aged 65 or over were vaccinated with the new vaccine against herpes zoster, in some cases following a telemedical consultation. Just in time for the start of the tick season, Galenica and its partners in the Canton of Bern have made it possible for tick vaccination appointments at pharmacies to be booked via Well – the independent health platform. Starting in July, the new Documedis^® Vaccination software, developed by HCI Solutions for checking vaccination status, will be tested in almost 40 pharmacies.

Further optimisation of the pharmacy network

In the first half of 2023, Galenica strengthened its presence in Switzerland by acquiring three pharmacies in excellent locations – two in Porrentruy in the Jura region and one in the centre of St. Gallen. With a net increase of one pharmacy, the Galenica network comprised 369 own pharmacies as of 30 June 2023.

“Pharmacies at Home” sector

The “Pharmacies at Home” sector achieved sales of CHF 39.1 million (+4.6%, excluding Mediservice). The positive growth of “Pharmacies at Home” was due in particular to Bichsel’s sales in the area of clinical nutrition, thanks to the high level of quality and service provided by Home Care Bichsel, which is recognised within the market.

Mediservice remains on course for success – and is soon set to become Switzerland’s leading online pharmacy

Offering a range of services for chronic and rare diseases, the specialty pharmacy Mediservice is an important pillar of medical and pharmaceutical care for many patients. The high level of customer focus and dynamic nature of the specialty pharmacy’s activities have been recently clearly demonstrated: as part of the joint venture founded by Galenica and Redcare Pharmacy (formerly Shop Apotheke Europe), the business activities of the shop-apotheke.ch and Mediservice platforms will be merged.

This will make Mediservice the leading online pharmacy in Switzerland. In the future, customers of the joint venture will not only benefit from specialist expertise in the shipping of prescription medications and from its recognised home care services, but also from the wide range of Redcare Pharmacy products.

Investments in our own online shops

In addition to setting up an online-only pharmacy as part of a joint venture with Redcare Pharmacy, Galenica also continued to invest in its own Amavita, Sun Store and Coop Vitality online shops in the first half of the year. In recent months, for example, the category tree has been overhauled to improve customers’ experience. The category tree is the structure used to categorise and organise the products offered in the online shop. Finding products in the online shops is now easier and more intuitive. The Amavita online shop is also due to be migrated to a new and more user-friendly system in the second half of 2023.

Demand for home care is growing

In order to make its home care services even more accessible, Galenica established the Galenica Home Care coordination service in the first half of 2023 to help patients organise and coordinate treatments. If required, the coordination service will also provide services offered by Bichsel, the specialist in artificial nutrition as well as intravenous antibiotic and pain therapies.

“Professionals” business area (B2B)

Net sales development

In the first half of 2023, the “Professionals” business area generated net sales of CHF 128.6 million (+17.6%). Of this, CHF 90.0 million (+19.8%) was attributable to “Products & Brands” and CHF 38.6 million (+12.8%) to “Services for Professionals”.

“Products & Brands” sector

The “Products & Brands” sector generated net sales of CHF 90.0 million (+19.8%) in the first half of 2023. Of this, CHF 71.1 million (+14.1%) came from the Swiss market and CHF 18.9 million (+48.0%) from exports involving distribution partners. In addition, the expansion of the product portfolio contributed 8% to sales growth, in particular due to the acquisition of the Padma Group in January 2023. Thanks to the strong growth and the expansion of the product portfolio, the market share of the “Products & Brands” sector has risen above 10% to 10.2% for the first time (IQVIA, Consumer Health Market Switzerland, first half of 2023).

By way of comparison, the consumer healthcare market grew by 3.3% year on year (IQVIA, Consumer Health Market Switzerland, first half of 2023, excluding COVID-19 self-tests).

Expansion of complementary medicine portfolio

The highlight was the acquisition of Padma Ltd. at the end of January 2023. Padma specialises in the manufacturing and distribution of herbal formulations derived from Tibetan medicine. Through this acquisition, Verfora is expanding its portfolio and market position in the field of complementary medicine. With Padma 28 N^® (over-the-counter medication) and Padmed Circosan N^® (reimbursable medication), Verfora now has two products for the treatment of mild circulatory disorders. Galenica will distribute the reimbursable product via the experienced Verfora medical field service.

Strong export sales

In terms of export sales, Galenica is consciously pursuing an opportunity-driven strategy, which proved particularly successful in the reporting period. This pleasing result was driven by the recovery in demand for travel and cold products, among other things, since the end of the pandemic.

“Services for Professionals” sector

With sales of CHF 38.6 million, the “Services for Professionals” sector achieved strong growth of +12.8% in the first half of 2023. Medifilm and Lifestage Solutions were the main drivers of this growth.

Measures to promote efficiency and patient safety

In the “Services for Professionals” sector, various measures were implemented in the first half of 2023 to strengthen the portfolio, boost efficiency and improve patient safety. The blister packaging of medications for safe use by Medifilm is meeting the rapidly growing demand from care homes and hospitals. Medifilm therefore took technological and logistical measures to enable production capacity to keep pace with demand. For example, new blister packaging machines will be procured by the end of 2023. As a specialist in the manufacture of medicines in small and medium quantities, Bichsel plays a key role in the Swiss healthcare system. In order to increase Bichsel’s efficiency and enable further profitable growth, further work on putting processes in place and on improving process stability was carried out in the first half of 2023. Furthermore, the portfolio was systematically designed to accommodate pharmaceutical products that are urgently needed for the Swiss market, particularly in the area of third-party contract manufacturing.

Lifestage platform expanded

Lifestage Solutions experienced a positive development. The company is a key partner for nursing homes and home care organisations. The digital platform for the fully automated ordering and billing of consumables and care products was expanded – initially as part of a pilot project – to also allow its users to order medication. This option will reduce the workload involved, particularly for the staff of partner institutions.