CEO of Promomed;: While investors are studying us: sales and profits are up, but nothing is happening with stocks.

Moscow. June 8th. INTERFAX.Promomed biopharmaceutical company, which went public in July 2024, is preparing to pay dividends for the first time. CEO Alexander Efremov, in an interview with Interfax at SPIEF 2026, explained why the board of directors decided to take this step with a negative FCF, how the company balances innovation and risks, and what its investment and export priorities are.

Photo: Press Service

- It was reported that Promomed is heading for a transformation from a manufacturer of basic generics to a biotech leader. Doesn't focusing on R&D make your strategy much riskier than it was before?

- Promomed is a biopharmaceutical company with full-cycle plants, but not a biotech venture. We don't do basic research - these are risky assumptions and developments that investors may fear. We are developing innovative solutions based on well-known targets for drug therapy. We refine these solutions after fundamental science has made its discovery. Therefore, the risk level in our portfolio has been reduced to an acceptable level.

And when we say that we plan to bring more than 20 new innovative molecules to the market by 2032, these are molecules that we already know in sufficient depth. Some of them have already passed preclinical studies and phase clinical trials, including pre-registration studies.

- So you're not applying for first-in-class?

- Even if you are preparing the next-in-class with an eye on the best-in-class (next in class and best in class, respectively), you unwittingly, sooner or later, encounter the first-in-class (first in class). In pharmaceutical history, there was a situation when one of the multinational chemical corporations sold another molecule for $5,000 as unnecessary to one global pharmaceutical company, and later this molecule turned into a blockbuster with sales of more than $5 billion worldwide. It was the most powerful product for the treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia for its time. Moreover, this molecule extended survival by 10-15 years, and modified forms - up to 20-25 years, although earlier this disease claimed people after six months or a year. This is how science and the library of molecules are developing.

- Earlier, Promomed's board of directors recommended paying dividends for the first quarter of 2026 in the amount of 8 rubles per share. This looks pretty bold against the background of negative free cash flow (FCF), and there was no need to rush, given the guidelines that you outlined earlier. What guided the board of directors?

- Yes, we said that we would pay dividends in 2027 for 2026, but pharmaceuticals is a very transparent industry. What is being recorded, how fast clinical trials are going, and how sales are growing are all very transparent and controlled. We were talking: "You will see for yourself our results and the dynamics of new products. If there is such an opportunity, we will consider paying dividends ahead of schedule."

Let's briefly touch on FCF. We are very conservative in these forecasts, and in 2024 we said that we would reach a positive flow in 2027. Today, in the middle of 2026, as the operational head, I see an optimum scenario in which FCF can become positive this year.

Going further: according to our rules, we are ready to pay dividends from adjusted net profit. What does it mean? We have made a net profit: we are sending this piece for hardware modernization, this one for R&D, and we are ready to distribute the rest. According to the results of 2025, we have an amount that is not allocated to investments - approximately 46% of adjusted net profit. It is from there that we will pay dividends - and yes, ahead of schedule.

- Can we say that you are "on track" regarding the payment of dividends?

- We set ourselves the task of moving this way. We are not holding a crystal ball in our hands, and we do not know what the year 2027 will be like, how the financial situation will change. But the most important thing, as in many matters that are based on trust, is aspiration. We want to pay dividends every year, and we set ourselves this goal. If something suddenly goes wrong in the financial world, as a rule, everyone will see it, and we will say about it as clearly as about our victories.

- Is it annually, not quarterly?

- Annually. It is still inconvenient for us to pay quarterly for various reasons, including because the pharmaceutical market has a relatively long reporting period. We produce products and ship them to distributors. I'm guessing what our fellow citizens will be sick with tomorrow, but I don't know for sure, because "it's just the flu that everyone is sick with." Before making a decision on the achieved result, we look at how our product leaves pharmacies. And this data is delayed.

Plus, there is a pronounced quarterly fluctuation in sales. As a rule, the biggest sales in pharmaceuticals occur in the fourth quarter. These are purchases in the interests of hospitals and hospitals, as well as seasonal sales. People return from vacations and begin to get sick and receive treatment. From September to the end of the year, commercial and pharmacy sales are also growing. With quarterly payments, the amount of dividends will also be affected.the reason for this phasing.

- It was reported that Promomed is not considering a secondary placement in the next two years, but it potentially considers it possible. What free float coefficient do you consider potentially acceptable in this case?

- We haven't thought about it in such detail yet. We are still in the phase where investors are studying us. A striking example: Eli Lilly has reported on the results of the first quarter of this year. Sales are up, profits are up, stocks are up. Promomed has reported on the results of the first quarter: sales are up, profits are up, debt is down, and ... absolutely nothing is happening with the shares.

Therefore, for now we are setting ourselves the task of getting into the first quotation list of the Moscow Stock Exchange, which means that we must cross the border of 10% (free float). We had two issues of structural bonds - we closed one of them in April 2026 and converted the bonds into shares. As a result of the conversion, the Moscow Exchange set our value of the free float coefficient at 9%. We expect that a similar conversion will take place in August next year, and we will organically cross the 10% border.

As you understand, we are thinking not so much about how to additionally "sell", I apologize for the simplification, to new investors, but how to increase the capitalization of the old ones. The first investors were with us in 2024, when it was extremely difficult to explain what our company was about, what we planned to do, and how realistic our forecasts were, but they understood, were, and remain with us.

We would like to increase the number of investors and do it very carefully in relation to those who were the first.

- Are you planning to expand and modernize the sites in the coming years? And in general, what part of the investment cycle is the company in?

- The most significant cycle of capital investments in the industrial component is over. Yes, we are constantly upgrading the equipment that we already have (science and engineering are not standing still), but we cannot say that these are significant investments.

Cumulative investments in 2026 facilities, including R&D, amount to approximately 9.4 billion rubles. As part of the production facilities, there is the launch of the latest oncology workshop (practically a factory within a factory), three large sites: the production of solid dosage forms (tablets, capsules), the production of liquid sterile forms and, at this point in time, the only site in the country for the creation of conjugated oncological products.

- Is there a target for the volume of investments for 2027?

- To make it easier for our investors to navigate, we say that our total CAPEX, including R&D, averages about 10% of the company's turnover each year. The key point in pharma is to distinguish between investments in "iron" (production capacity) and "molecules". From 2024 to the present day, the share of investments in new molecules significantly exceeds investments in "iron" - there is enough of it in the company. And now the molecules are making a profit.

- It turns out that you are not considering the construction of new production sites yet?

- The company has two operating enterprises - Biochemik in Saransk and Berakhim (production of active pharmaceutical substances) in the Kaluga region. We are also investing in some sites in Moscow, so the company has enough production space.

- How do you assess the prospects of veterinary drugs?

- I must say that our entry into this segment was not a pillar of the strategic plan. What happened happened, and the medicines for the animals began to slowly disappear. After understanding the situation and seeing that some veterinary products are still at the level of the late 90s, we realized that with our experience we can offer the latest pharmaceutical-quality products for animals.

We expect that its share will be approximately 1-2% of the company's turnover, but it is a fast-growing and interesting segment. The veterinary market needs the development and research of modern medicines for animals with allergies, cancer, diseases of the joints, digestive system and others. And if we have these solutions, and they are not super-specific for dogs or cats, or humans, why not use a human formulation? We have enough of such modern products.

- About export plans. What share of revenue is currently accounted for by exports, and what goals do you set?

- This is a strategic direction for us, because it is irrational to innovate and not sell it abroad. The only thing is that entering foreign markets is always a step-by-step process: first, an inspection of enterprises, then the start of registration, then clinical trials, then registration. We are already in the process, we have passed several foreign GMP, and we are in the registration phase in some countries. There are countries where we are already launching this year. In general, the share of exports by the end of 2026 will be approximately 5%, and we plan to achieve the goals we discussed - that the company will receive more than 240 billion rubles in revenue in 2032, of which 15% of the revenue of innovative products will be exported. We do not set ourselves the task of selling generics - they are already available there, abroad. Exports will grow with innovations.

- Whose markets exactly do you expect to enter soon?

- We have passed the audit of Iraq, the UAE, passed several audits of Uzbekistan and the CIS countries. Overall, we will have ten more audits by the end of the year. The target markets are the countries of the Persian Gulf, Southeast Asia, Vietnam as an example, and the "far" Southeast Asia - Malaysia, the Philippines, and so on. As long as we keep Africa in reserve, we cannot embrace the immensity.

- Vietnam was mentioned. It was reported that Promomed considers this country as a key hub for expanding its activities in Southeast Asia. In what format do you see this partnership?

- Indeed, an agreement has been signed with Vinapharm, the main task is to create a logistics hub that will serve the "middle" Southeast. There will be a partial transfer of technology.

- To pack drugs there?

- It is possible to do the filling and finishing packaging for Tirzetta, because there is a need for diabetes therapy, there are no drugs.

- Do you consider any countries as potential similar hubs for other regions of the world?

- Yes, we follow a very similar strategy. We have two candidates in Latin America, two candidates in the Gulf countries. Most likely, there will be another such platform, as we are developing with Vinapharm, only in the "far" Southeast. And although a number of steps have already been taken, it seems that it is too early to name specific countries.

Sources

1. Interfax