Interview: António Portela, CEO, Bial Portugal
António Portela, CEO of Portugal’s flagship pharmaceutical company Bial, talks about the recent approval of Aptiom by the FDA, the first Portuguese drug to ever to be approved in the…
Founded in 1924, BIAL is today the biggest Portuguese pharmaceutical group with a team of about 900 collaborators, and with a strong commitment to R&D, internationalization and quality.
BIAL is also an international pharmaceutical group with business activities in more than 50 countries. Based in Portugal, Bial owns facilities in Spain—where a production unit and a R&D centre dedicated to allergic immunotherapy are situated—Italy, Mozambique, Panama, and other countries.
Strongly committed to therapeutic innovation, investing more than 20 percent of its turnover in R&D every year, BIAL Group has launched the first drug of Portuguese patent, an anti-epileptic. Available since 2009 in several European markets, under the brand Zebinix, this antiepileptic, eslicarbazepine acetate, has recently been approved by the regulator of the pharmaceutical market in the US, Food and Drug Administration (FDA), for commercialization in the United States under the brand Aptiom.
BIAL has also a second pharmaceutical for its own research, for the treatment of the Parkinson disease, which is already in an advanced development process (phase III of clinical development).
The company expects to introduce more new medicines and vaccines to the market in the next years, specifically in the central nervous system, the cardiovascular system and allergen immunotherapy, which will be an added impetus to its international expansion.
Since 2005 the Bial Group is a member of the “European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations” (EFPIA), which has recognized Bial as a research and development pharmaceutical company capable of bringing new medicines to the world to improve human health and the quality of life of the populations.
Bial Group has also been distinguished by its support to several medical and scientific activities, namely through BIAL Foundation, having as outstanding events the BIAL Award and Scientific Research Grants, well recognized worldwide.
Bial Contact Info:
À Av. da Siderurgia Nacional
4745-457 S. Mamede do Coronado – Portugal
Phone: +351 22986 6100 | Fax: +351 22986 6190
www.bial.com | info@bial.com
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