History

In 1991, virtually along with the privatization of the whole area of veterinary services, several tens of distributors appeared. At that time, many of our colleagues solved therethrough the topical problems connected with pharmaceuticals supplies. The former system of purchases planning was spread and proprietors of the distribution licenses could address directly the domestic producers, who dominated at that time the Czech market of pharmaceuticals and bio-preparatives. Technical background of such arising distribution network was rather improvised – garages, cellars, barns, etc.

Nevertheless, the further development was speeding up! The main directions of the development were the following:

• Enlargement of portfolio, in particular thanks to the coming foreign preparatives
• Investment into warehouse technologies
• Acquisition of customers
• Building up of a regular transportation service.

Therefore, backgrounds of something - which was later greatly called “logistics”, “marketing” and “customer relationship management” - had been created, naturally and a bit intuitively. In 1992, as many as ten significant veterinary wholesales were running their businesses, thereof only two have stopped their activities. One of the wholesale companies had been also the company NK-VET, seating in the city of Brno, which later became one of the initial sources of Noviko.

The development of the human pharmaceuticals distribution progressed similarly to - and in fact also along with – the development of the veterinary distribution. Several companies even ran both activities at the same time. Founders of the company Noviko had already availed of detailed, more-year-lasting experience in managing of those mixed distributions, when they came to a conclusion that the human part of the business was not quite compatible with the veterinary part. Naturally, with respect to the mutual relation of turnovers, veterinarians were unfortunately “always the third”, behind the pharmacies and hospitals. Indeed, a lot derived from that implicit position. Therefore, an idea to establish a new, independent and unambiguously veterinary-oriented company arose. In that case, the idea had reached its objective very soon – the joint stock company Noviko a.s. was set up on November 12, 1996.

There were no doubts about how difficult would be the beginnings of a new company on such an occupied busy market. The market (more likely the competing companies in this case) defended itself (themselves) by market means. Therefore, one of our principal bearing strategies was not to stand alone against the rest of market, but rather to establish cooperation with existing distributors, to offer them co-ownership shares and to participate e.g. in common purchases, bringing thereby mutual advantages. Those and also other ideas have led to the fact that our company have been established in form of a joint stock company, with a wide range of shareholders, deriving from the founders, other distributors and also employees. Having been preceded by three months of intensive preparation, the official kick-off of veterinary distribution from the rented premises in Brno, 72, Hudcova street, took place on February 15, 1997.

Sales shares of individual groups of customers

Sales shares of individuals groups of goods

Shares of sale of pharmaceuticals for big and small animals