SOPHARMA won the open-bidding public auction Monday held by the Privati-sation Agency (PA) for the sale of Pharmachim Holding and of 45.89 per cent of the assets of the Chemical and Pharmaceutical Research Institute (CPRI).

The two companies were sold in a package for 9.2 million leva ($4.4 million).

Sopharma competed only with Balkanpharma Holding at the auction.

Sopharma controls about 12.5 per cent of the domestic market of medicines and pharmaceutical products. The company is interested mainly in the assets of CPRI, which controls a market share of less than 2 per cent. The institute has bad debts totalling about 11 million leva ($5.2 million).

Pharmachim Holding sells 51 per cent of its products abroad. The enterprise is the sole successor to the Pharmachim trademark, which sells in 32 countries.