INVESTORS, pharmacy chain originators and supplement companies dominate the pharmacy contribution to the Australian Financial Review's (AFR's) annual top 200 Rich List this year.
High profile names such as Chemist Warehouse's Mario Verocchi (pictured right - number 128 with $558m) and Jack Gance (pictured left at #131 with $546m), Marcus Blackmore (#136 with $529m) and Radek Sali (of Swisse fame) at #191 with $372m are most obvious.
Verrocchi and Gance founded Chemist Warehouse in 1973 and still own the business, along with the My Chemist brand.
Blackmore (right) has ridden the crest of the wave of Chinese complementary medicine (CM) demand and is supporting ongoing research with a $10m CM grant to Western Sydney University (PD 03 Apr 17).
Less well known are Jina Chen and Alex Wu, #93 with $686m, of Nature's Care which sells about $230m worth of vitamins and supplements annually and is debt free, AFR says.
Nature's Care is the third biggest player in the Australian market behind Swisse Wellness and Blackmores, selling many of its products via the Chemist Warehouse chain and with about 40% of its products consumed by Chinese customers.
Chen founded the company in the early 1990s, after she successfully treated her father's cough with a garlic extract she had been researching.
An interesting inclusion which may portend a trend is Barry Lambert ranked #177 with $437m, know for promoting legalisation of medicinal cannabis.
He will soon become chairman of hemp firm Ecofibre, which is aiming for a 2018 ASX listing, AFR says.
The above article was sent to subscribers in Pharmacy Daily's issue from 29 May 17
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