Apex Healthcare Berhad

Apex Healthcare Berhad (APEX) is a leading, integrated Malaysian-based pharmaceutical group with operations in Malaysia, Singapore, China and Indonesia.

The business was founded in 1962 by Mr Kee Tah Peng as a single retail pharmacy outlet in Melaka. In time, pharmaceutical distribution and generic manufacturing businesses were added and the Apex group was established. APEX itself was incorporated in Malaysia as a holding company on 3 December 1998 as a special purpose vehicle for the Group’s Initial Public Offering and listing on the Bursa Malaysia in June 2000.

The APEX Group's major wholly-owned subsidiaries are Xepa-Soul Pattinson (M) Sdn Bhd, Apex Pharmacy Marketing Sdn Bhd, Apex Pharma Marketing Pte Ltd, ABio Marketing Sdn Bhd, Apex Pharmacy Corporate Sdn Bhd, Avex Pharmaceuticals Pte Ltd and Apex Pharmacy International Sdn Bhd.

APEX is listed on the Main Board of Bursa Malaysia. Its core activities are manufacturing, wholesaling, distribution and marketing of pharmaceutical and consumer healthcare products. For the financial year ended 31 December 2009 the Company recorded revenue of Rm283 million and profit before tax of RM30 million.

From the very beginning, APEX's watchwords have been Service, Quality and Integrity. APEX aims to provide the best in pharmaceutical healthcare in all consumers in each and every market it operates in.

APEX Group currently employs close to 2,600 people.

APEX's corporate logo is a stylised meditative pose. The attributes that come with meditation are tranquility and order. The upward movement of the letter ‘e’ symbolises the quintessence of Apex’s core business activities and achievement. Blue is water, which signifies prosperity and good fortune. The orange dot is sunlight and vision, the guiding principle for attaining success.

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Manufacturing

Xepa-Soul Pattinson (Xepa SP) is one of Southeast Asia’s top pharmaceutical companies focusing on premium off-patent pharmaceutical products. Founded in 1967 and now based in Malaysia, we have established a track record of producing high quality and affordable medicines that have grown to be trusted by generations of our customers. Today, we remain committed to our vision of creating high-quality affordable products for our customers so that they can live healthier, longer and more productive lives.

Many of our brands like Sedilix, a cough mixture; Covastin, a cholesterol-lowering agent and Zynor, an antihypertensive drug are market leaders and well respected in the market.

Xepa ^SP is and continues to see itself as the leader in bringing the newest and most effective off-patent pharmaceutical products to the market. Our laboratories develop products - formulating, designing and validating - that are then manufactured to exacting standards. From there, our marketing team brands, positions, promotes and handles sales of our products to private and government-run clinics, pharmacies and hospitals, within Malaysia and the region.

Our manufacturing plant, based in the Melaka’s Cheng Industrial Estate, consists of 180,000 sq ft of built-up area including development laboratories, production floors, warehouses and offices spread over a 10-acre site.

We have continuously invested in technology and setting new standards of excellence to achieve our vision. Reflecting this is our new liquids pharmaceutical plant, built as an extension to our Cheng Industrial Estate facility, which is built to meet the world class PIC/S GMP standard. This new plant incorporates sophisticated production facilities and monitoring/control systems, such as aseptic suites, a synchronized bottle transfer system and a USP 28 purified water system.

We are committed in the manufacturing of safe and efficacious pharmaceutical products. Our quest for excellence in quality is delivered through our quality management system, ISO 9001 certified; our laboratory, which is ISO 17025 certified, and a group of well trained, competent and passionate professionals.

Staff strength: 255

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Wholesale and Distribution

APEX Group’s pharmaceutical wholesale, marketing and distribution operations are grouped under Apex Pharmacy Marketing Sdn Bhd (APM) and ABio Marketing Sdn Bhd (ABIO) in Malaysia and Apex Pharma Marketing Pte Ltd (APS) in Singapore.

APM is today the leading pharmaceutical wholesaler leader in Malaysia with a 40% share of the total Malaysian pharmaceutical wholesale market, and is four times larger than its next closest rival.

Specialising in pharmaceutical and healthcare products, APM, with its extensive marketing and distribution network of 30 distribution lines, serves a broad-based clientele throughout the country:

• Private medical and dental practitioners
• Wholesalers
• Private hospitals and public
• Pharmacies
• Medical halls or druggists
• Health-food stores
• Supermarkets and hypermarkets
• Department stores
• Estates & Factories
• Government institutions

APM has nine warehouses in Malaysia, fully compliant with standards set by the Drug Control Authority of Malaysia and equipped to handle date-sensitive and thermo-labile products. The warehouses are electronically linked by leased line and Virtual Private Network (VPN) for realtime information gathering. They are located in:

• Subang Jaya, Petaling Jaya
  
• Ipoh
  
• Penang
  
• Melaka
  
• Seremban
  
• Johor Bahru
  
• Kota Bahru
  
• Kota Kinabalu
  
• Kuching
  

In Singapore, pharmaceutical marketing and distribution operations are carried out by APS.

Staff strength: 260

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China

APEX's long-term strategy involves regional expansion.

In 2005, Apex has begun to implement this strategy with a major investment in China, by acquiring a 25% stake in the Xiamen Maidiken Science & Technology Co Ltd group (MDK), a leading private sector pharmaceutical company in Fujian province. The investment in MDK is held through a 66% owned subsidiary, First SGC Pte Ltd (FSGC), and exposes APEX to a market which we regard as vital to its future. In 2008, after the completion of a restructuring exercise Apex increased its stake in MDK group to 32.4%.

MDK has wholesale and retail operations in most of the major cities of Fujian and has recently commenced manufacture of Chinese medicines. Currently, MDK has 10 wholesales depots and 67 retail outlets. The wholesales depots are located in:

• Xiamen
  
• Fuzhou
  
• Quanzhou
  
• Zhangzhou
  
• Sanming
  
• Ningde
• Nanping
  
• Putian
• Zhong Hong
• Long Yan

MDK’s turnover for 2008 is Rmb 1.7 billion. Like APEX, MDK group is a business built around brands and channels and is committed to the ideals of Quality, Service and Integrity.

Staff strength: 1,092

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Indonesia

In 2007, Apex Healthcare Bhd acquired a 20% interest in Penta Valent's holding company Maritzberg Investments Limited, giving potential access to the Indonesian market for Apex Group's products. The two parties have already been able to draw upon a combined 8 decades of successful experience in distribution and wholesale, to significant mutual advantage.

Penta Valent was established in September 1968. Penta Valent is a distributor of pharmaceutical, medical and consumer health products in Indonesia with 24 branches and 8 sub-branches providing service countrywide. Pharmaceuticals are supplied to over 8,000 dispensaries, drugstores and hospitals, and consumer health products to over 20,000 outlets. Annual sales are over RM 150 million.

Apex is pleased to have found a local partner in Indonesia with business values very compatible with Apex's own ethos of Service, Integrity and Quality

PV’s turnover for 2009 was Rupiah 688 billion.

Staff strength: 950

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