Oriola to distribute Merck drugs in Finland

The German pharmaceuticals manufacturer Merck KGaA is transferring the distribution of its products in Finland to Oriola Oy as of 1 January 2002.

Merck KGaA is one of the largest pharmaceutical manufacturers in Germany. Its operations focus on cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, hormone replacement therapies and consumer healthcare. The annual sales of the Finnish marketing subsidiary Merck Oy are in the region of Euro 10.2 million.

Oriola is a Finnish healthcare company engaged in the wholesale and distribution of pharmaceuticals as well as the marketing of equipment and supplies for the various sectors of healthcare comprehensively. The annual invoicing of Oriola is about Euro 600 million. Oriola's share of pharmaceutical distribution in Finland is about one-third.

"Factors behind our decision in favour of Oriola included, first of all, the high quality and reliability of Oriola's distribution and reporting systems, as well as their advanced customer management system, from which our own marketing efforts can benefit in many ways", says Mr. Matti Saarnivuo, Head of Pharma of Merck Oy.