Jordi Muntañola: "This year Salvat will launch a drug in the US and another in China"

BarcelonaJordi Muntañola (Barcelona, 1978) has been the CEO of Salvat laboratories for a year. This molecular biologist from Esteve, who also held positions of responsibility at the Werfen group, has placed Salvat in the club of 100 million in turnover 12 months after initiating a major transformation to enhance the values and characteristics of a family-owned pharmaceutical company with over 70 years of history; a portfolio of its own products, with brands like the antiseptic Cristalmina, and a foundation to which it dedicates a portion of its profits. And, moreover, with great prospects, with the acceleration of the third-party production business and the launch during the first half of this year of a new product in the USA, with the prospect of marketing another next year and another in China. Always accompanied by a local partner, the formula it uses for internationalization, which has led it to be present in more than 60 countries. And without ruling out possible acquisitions, a path that the company may incorporate into the 2027-2030 strategic plan, which it expects to have ready this summer.

You have been in charge for a year, what is your assessment?

— It has been an intense year of transformation. We are a company with many opportunities, with many mid-sized company assets that you find in larger ones, such as our own R&D, two industrial plants, and direct international operation in Spain. It was about understanding the company's starting point and beginning to define the levers of action and prioritize financial results, ensuring that we have these challenges well covered in terms of turnover and profitability. It has been an intense first year of transformation with a very good impact on results.

They are a medium-sized company in a sector with giants. What possibilities do these types of companies have in the pharmaceutical sector?

— Yes, exactly, we consider ourselves a medium-sized company. 25% of our sales come from international markets. Right now, the model we have is direct operation in Spain and indirect, that is with partners, abroad. And we are also trying to leverage and understand very well where the company's growth is with the portfolio and assets we have right now. We are prioritizing two key businesses: one is the pharma business, which currently accounts for 90%-95% of sales. But we are also, not only growing this business in Spain and internationally, but we also want to prioritize the CDMO business.

What do you mean by that?

— It is what you manufacture for third parties at your plants. We have a very powerful plant in Madrid, in Alcalá de Henares, with BFS technology, sterile, and we have the capacity to offer this technology to other companies and start manufacturing for them. And this is a very important growth asset. We have been in the market for over 70 years, and if we want to continue in it, we must do things in the best way in terms of efficiency. That is why it is so important in a transformation to understand exactly not only what you bring out, but also what you do internally in terms of processes and systems, as well as having the best talent and being very clear about what we want to do and how we want to differentiate ourselves.

Last year they achieved the milestone of 100 million euros in turnover, which positions them in the three-digit market. Do they have a strategic plan with objectives for two or three years ahead?

— This first year we have prioritized three levers of action. The first is to grow the business, but not only in volume, but also in profitability. And that has worked for us. The second lever is to be very efficient operationally with the industrial plants we have. And the third lever has been everything related to culture and values, ways of working and, above all, talent. This has helped us in a first year to understand very well the starting point and the commitment we have. Now we have all the arguments to create our strategic plan 2027-2030, which we will do this summer.

Why did they do it like this?

— Because in a company that has been in the market for so many years, doing things in a certain way, we needed time to calibrate, understand it, and then redefine it well. We do not yet have the ambition for financial growth defined, but logically we are already starting to work in this direction to make a more powerful, more profitable company that continues to persist in the industry.

What can you tell us about the future strategic plan?

— The concept above all is profitable growth. That is to say, not only in the top line, but also in EBITDA. Right now we are at 17 million EBITDA, which is equivalent to a 17% margin, and we want to move with industry standards in terms of EBITDA percentage. In the end, we are aiming for a 25% or 30% EBITDA margin. This is what would position us as a company that is in good shape.

It is a family capital company, like practically most Catalan pharmaceutical companies. Indebtedness I imagine must be a word they don't have in the dictionary, or do they?

— We already did. The company took on debt to make an industrial investment in Madrid. The purchase of a Sigma Tau factory in Alcalá de Henares was made in 2017, and in 2020 a plant next door was expanded with BFS technology, with single-dose vials,with debt. What we are doing now as a first part of the plan is trying to accelerate the CDMO business, which the company was already doing. We have a very powerful plant that we use for the manufacture of Salvat product, but we also have space to manufacture for third parties.

And why are they accelerating it?

— Because it is a business that can go very well for us. This year we have had a growth of 25% or 30% in sales. We are still small, but after this investment that was made, first of all we want to ensure that we have the businesses and the income at the plant to seek debt again with an inorganic operation,which is what we will study and address in the strategic plan. Salvat's vocation is to grow organically, continue investing to grow the company inorganically, as has already been done in the past in the industrial field, and see exactly where we want to play,understanding that we are positioning the company strongly in ophthalmology and otolaryngology, which are areas in which we not only have attractive and interesting portfolios right now, but also have our own research.We have our own R&D team with 50 people,with an investment of 5 million euros in 2025, which is 5% of sales, and very focused on ophthalmology and otolaryngology.

I suppose one of the secrets of survival must be to specialize in something, not wanting to do everything...

— On a national level, in our portfolio we hardly have third-party licenses but our own product, and this is very important. Licenses bring a lot of volatility. At Salvat, almost 90% or 95% of the portfolio is our own product, which has been developed with our own R&D.

And what does this bring?

— Capacity for stability. It gives us market presence with products that are already known, and it gives us some knowledge to develop, from now on, an innovation model that we are betting on, our own innovation, in which we not only look at innovation, the research we can do internally, but we are opening up the scope a bit to understand what technologies are out there, look for some partnership, open up innovation a bit, because perhaps we had it a little more closed. We do research that we can undertake, based on incremental innovation.

Specialization I suppose gives a lot of strength...

— We have four key therapeutic areas, two in which we conduct internal research, which are ophthalmology and otorhinolaryngology, and two areas in which we have a historical portfolio, which are gastroenterology and urology. We have an innovation plan in each of the therapeutic areas. The first two are more internal, the second two are about how we can supply products to these two areas so that, in the end, they help to improve the lives of patients with these pathologies that we are addressing.

Many companies have turned to self-care, dietary supplements... Have you too?

— We have the prescription business, which are these four areas mentioned above, and also a consumer health division of 25 million euros out of the 75 million we have in pharmaceuticals here in Spain. It is also an area we are investing in, for example with Cristalmina.

What is your most important business?

— Out of 100 million in turnover, 6 or 7 million are from CDMO, with future growth. When we talk about the strategic plan, this business will grow, because we have the capacity to manufacture for others in Madrid. The rest is the pharma business, which is 93 million euros. Of these, 25 are international and 70, more or less, in Spain. And within these 70 in Spain are the five businesses. Our strategic plan will specify how we can tackle the three growth avenues. We are handling the national part with a new resizing of the ophthalmology sales network. We have tripled the ophthalmology network this year.

Why have they done it?

— Because as we have a wheel of ophthalmology innovation, with many launches and with a lot of product, we want to ensure that this innovation reaches the patient well, the ophthalmologist, and we are betting on this area. We are also reinforcing therapeutic areas in the field of commercial and medical equipment. The CDMO part is a key issue and is already giving us a lot of joy. We have brought six new products from American companies in 2025. They are produced in Madrid and it is the American market, and this year we have already brought two more products from international companies in two months to manufacture for third parties. And the other growth path is the international market.

How do they face internationalization?

— In the international market we work by regions. We have America, Europe, Asia, China and the rest of the world. Europe is our main market, with 70% or 80% of sales. And in 2025 they approved a Salvat product in the United States. We had FDA approval for clotrimazole, the brand is Clotic. It is for otomycosis, it is an otic product developed and manufactured by Salvat. We also have FDA approval for the Madrid plant and we have signed an agreement with a partner in the United States and we will launch this product there in the middle of this year. This is good news in the field of expansion. It will be launched already with this partner.

It's not the first thing they market in the USA, right?

— We had two more optical products, Otobel and Cetraxal, which were products that were launched a few years ago. And we also have another product which is a brand and a development of Salvat itself, called Clobetasol, which is an ophthalmological product. It is a corticosteroid for the treatment of post-surgery of cataracts or glaucoma. We are launching this product in Spain this year, and we are also waitingfor FDA approval in 2026 to launch it in the United States in 2027. And we are also looking for a partner to market it. We have two interesting products in the American market that we need to see how they perform.

Do not stay here...

— Last year we had the approval of a cetraxal plus product, which is an optical product for China and which we are also launching this year with a Chinese partner to see how the market responds. And the other growth path is Europe. We have Asia and China, we have the USA, Europe and also Latin America and other regions where we are. But I would say that these are the three levers of growth.

Are there more possible markets to open this year?

— We have a presence in more than 60 countries. Our distribution network is very extensive, we are already in many countries. The issue is to prioritize regions, and we will include this in the strategic plan.

Do they always go out with a local partner?

— Always. We do B2B business [between companies]. In the end, you go with a local partner. Why? Because if not, you have to create a structure and have a broad portfolio or buy an already present company. That's why we always go with partners.

If I had to summarize Salvat in very few words, how would I define it?

— It is a company with a lot of potential, with a lot of opportunity. A company with a legacy of many years in the industry. This is a guarantee, with interesting values and ways of doing things, and that can be leveraged to grow by doing things as they were done but better.

More concise?

— This company is a diamond in the rough.

Are you considering going to the stock market at some point, for example to BME Growth?

— I have been with the company as CEO for a year, and I would say that this is not on the table. It is more a matter of perpetuating growth, of continuing to invest and incur debt to grow the company. And with a relevant element at Salvat, which is to allocate part of the dividends to the Salvat Foundation. This also helps us. It is a clear indication of the company's commitment, not only to seek profitability to provide a return to shareholders but also to allocate a part to social work. It is a reality that also helps us to have a differential purpose as a company. At the Salvat Foundation, we make investments in scientific scholarships, social work for vulnerable groups, at Finestrelles and Sant Joan de Déu, and also scholarships for artists, painters, and musicians who are starting out and need support. We allocate a percentage of the profit to this. This is a differential value.

Develop this, because Salvat is a diamond in the rough...

— When you see Salvat in 360 degrees, you see our own R&D, the industrial fabric, the international operation, the national one, the legacy of 70 years, and that there is a differential purpose, that of allocating resources to the foundation. In other words, this also positions us as a company that can advance as a light multinational, all done on our scale.

Are you considering growing through acquisitions?

— In the coming years, we are in a phase of accelerating the CDMO business. The strategic plan will define the portfolio and areas, but the intention is to grow inorganically when we are ready to do so. We have a vocation for future growth by continuing to invest and execute the strategic plan we are currently developing.

And would this mean buying companies?

— It could be product, portfolio or companies. This must be evaluated, it remains open. But the most important thing is that there is a vocation to grow, organically of course, but also with acquisitions. And this, surely, we can land it a little more in the strategic plan for 2027-2030.

In what could we visualize this first year of transformation?

— We have focused on talent and people. We have made 15 new hires, a rethinking of the management committee. In the end, I always say this, it's like sports: if you have to change the way you play, you have to have players who adapt to it. And I would tell you that all the new hires we have made are critical at the level of strategic functions and talent.

That is to say, positions or profiles?

— Yes, positions and profiles. We have created the digital area and excellence in processes. The one for global operations, the one for strategy, the one for project management. We have made a lot of organizational evolution. Apart from the final result, which is the raw financial value, we have worked on culture, skills and talent...

How many are template?

— In total, 500 people. Of these, about 120 are in the commercial part in Spain, about 300 in the industrial part and the rest in structure and back-office.

What kind of innovation do they do? Product, process...

— It is innovation in formulation technologies. They are active ingredients that already exist. It is what is called incremental innovation. And we have a range of formulation technologies that help us improve products that are already on the market. We are, like many national companies, defending the value of incremental innovation and the protection of prices for incremental innovation. The issue that it is truly valued when you present a dossier with this technology, that it is valued with respect to the price of the generic. And this is a very important element for companies like ours.