Ruxandra Nastase, the new general manager of the domestic branch of Ozone Laboratories pharmaceutical company, says her first decision was related to the start of an internal assessment process.

"As I had just joined the company, the first thing I did was to begin an internal assessment process to see whether the internal structure of the company needed to be adjusted to the changes of the Romanian pharmaceutical market or not," stated Ruxandra Nastase. She said she also considered the creation of a new management position at Ozone Laboratories, for which a selection process is now underway.

"At this moment, given market changes and EU integration, our main target is to boost the efficiency of our product portfolio. The first step in this direction will be the creation of a new position in the company's management structure by grouping some already existent functions. I am speaking about the Senior Regulatory & Quality Manager position and we are recruiting for this position at this moment," added Nastase. Last month, the company entered into a strategic partnership with Bristol-Myers Squibb for the management of its products included in the portfolio in Poland, Bulgaria and Slovakia, an operation mainly referring to marketing and sales. This also led to a modification of the local budget, a process to end late this year, when the company is also due to announce its financial targets for 2007.

Ruxandra Nastase says a turnover increase will be certainly included in the budget, with the increase to be mainly generated by "product portfolio reorganisation and efficiency boosting", as well as by "the introduction of some new molecules".

"While we want to further expand our portfolio, we'd also like to increase our focus on the introduction of some new, more modern molecules on the market," she explained. In Romania, Ozone works up with several