Grindeks : Latvia's Grindex, World Anti-Doping Agency agree on cooperation Mildronate to be discussed later
09/14/2016 | 11:44am CEST
RIGA, Sept 14 (LETA) Representatives of Latvian Grindex pharmaceutical company met with representatives of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and agreed on cooperation, still the parties did not agree on removing Mildronate medication, also known as meldonium, from the list of prohibited substances, the company reported.
The parties during the meeting agreed on further cooperation and voiced interest in preventing malicious and ungrounded use of the medication.
Grindex will continue to collect scientific proof and ask WADA to remove Milodrante from the list of prohibited substances.
Grindex board chairman Juris Bundulis said that the company wants its medication to be available to all patients who need it, including athletes.
The meeting with WADA representatives was held in Montreal, Canada, and was attended by Bundulis, the inventor of Mildronate and the head of the Latvian Institute of Organic Synthesis, Ivars Kalvins, as well as Grindex experts.
As reported, WADA has extended the period in which athletes testing positive for meldonium can escape sanctions until September 30. WADA extended a policy that had previously covered the period from January 1 to March 1.
WADA added meldonium, which was developed in Latvia, to the banned list on January 1 after claiming there was evidence that it was being used for performance enhancing purposes. Latvian-made Mildronate hit the headlines earlier this year after Russian tennis player Maria Sharapova admitted that she had failed a dope test at the Australian Open after taking the medication.
Even though Grindex hopes that meldonium will be completely removed from the list of prohibited substances, at present it is planned that it will be banned completely from October 1.
Grindex Group's turnover in in the first six months of 2016 was EUR 46.4 million, EUR 2.6 million or 5.9 percent up from the respective period last year 2015, while the group's net profit, attributable to shareholders of the parent company, was EUR 4.2 million in contrast, growing EUR 1 million or 32.4 percent year-on-year.
Grindex is an international, vertically integrated pharmaceutical company. Main fields of action are research, development, manufacturing and sales of original products, generics and active pharmaceutical ingredients. The Group of Grindex consists of five subsidiary companies in Latvia, Estonia, Russia and Slovakia as well as representative offices in 13 countries.
Grindex specializes in the heart and cardiovascular, CNS and anti-cancer medication therapeutic groups. A range of products covers a successful combination of original products and generics, with the original products Mildronate and Ftorafur. Currently Grindex produces 25 active pharmaceutical ingredients.
Products of the company are exported to 70 countries and its export comprises 90 percent of the total turnover. The key markets include the European Union countries, Russia and other C.I.S. countries, the United States, Canada, Japan and Vietnam.
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