Missionpharma has a proud history going back to 70s, where the company was founded by the late Poul Ginnerup; a Danish entrepreneur with a dream about increasing access to safe and affordable generic pharmaceuticals worldwide.

At that time, there was an increasing trend towards generic pharmaceuticals in Africa, and Poul decided to focus intensively on this segment. The missionary clinics constituted the entire public health sector in Africa, which is the primary reason for our company name.

Africa has been in our DNA since the very beginning – and the continent still has big place in our hearts.

A proud history

1975:	Missionpharma was founded by the late Poul Ginnerup as a one-man company with focus on supply of generic pharmaceuticals to the missionary clinics in Africa.
1980:	Missionpharma has a strong commitment towards relief aid.
1989:	Poul Ginnerup dies and Poul’s son, Kim Ginnerup, joins the management team.
1997:	Our first office in India is established with primary focus on QA/QC and logistics services.
2001:	Missionpharma establishes our kit packing unit in India, Missionpharma Logistics India, with complete storage, consolidation and kit packing facilities.
2007:	Establishment of our Procurement and QA office in Shanghai, China.
2008:	Missionpharma A/S is ISO 9001 certified by Bureau Veritas.
2010:	Increasing physical presence on the African continent.
2012:	Eurapharma (now CFAO Healthcare), owned by the CFAO Group and Toyota Tsusho Corporation, enters as majority shareholder of Missionpharma.
2013:	Missionpharma strategically separates Hospital Equipment as a dedicated business unit.
2015:	Missionpharma Zambia Ltd. is founded.
2015:	Missionpharma wins the Great Place to Work® title as the best Workplace in Denmark (Best Small Workplaces 2015).
2018:	Christian Overgaard is appointed new CEO of Missionpharma.
2020:	Missionpharma A/S is ISO 13485 certified by Bureau Veritas.
2021:	Missionpharma A/S is ISO 14001 certified by Bureau Veritas.
2022:	Missionpharma Logistics (India) Pvt. Ltd. is ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certified by Bureau Veritas.
2023:	Our new warehouse in Kandla, India, is inaugurated, providing 30% additional capacity (totally 11,000 m2).

Missionpharma has adopted a strict policy on gifts and hospitality, and as a principle, nothing of value can be offered, promised, given, requested, accepted, directly or indirectly, to or from a Third Party, under any circumstances, except for:

• Gifts to or from Third Parties, provided that they are of very modest value, non-frequent and in direct relation with the professional activity of the receiving party. If the situation implies a potential conflict of interest, irrespectively of the value of the gift, Missionpharma’s staff cannot, under any circumstances, accept the gift (as an example, our Quality auditors cannot accept gifts from an audited supplier)
• Modest hospitality if low value according to internal standards and in agreement with applicable laws and regulations, reasonable and with a legitimate business purpose, such as site visits or educational meetings. If the situation implies a potential conflict of interest, irrespectively of the value of the hospitality, Missionpharma’s staff cannot, under any circumstances, accept the hospitality.

Any gift in cash, whether offered, promised, given or received by an employee or a Third Party is strictly forbidden.

Relatives of the employee are considered as potentially being in a position to influence business decision of the relevant employee. Therefore, any gift received by such relatives from Third Parties must be disclosed as the ones directly received by the employee.

GIFTS INCLUDE
Anything of value such as cash or cash equivalents as well as products, vouchers, services, loans, pricing or other benefits granted as a mark of friendship or appreciation without expecting anything in return – including but not limited to gifts like wine, tickets, clothes, paintings, jewellery and cash.

To support the increasing humanitarian needs in Ukraine, Missionpharma has recently made a donation of 145,000 surgical sutures to the country. The sutures have reached Lviv and are being distributed to health facilities all over the country.

The world around us is constantly changing and with the ongoing war in Ukraine, humanitarian needs are multiplying and spreading by the hour.

Through our partnership with the Danish voluntary humanitarian organisation, Global Medical Aid (GMA), Missionpharma is supporting the people in Ukraine with a donation of 145,000 surgical sutures. Sutures constitute a critical function in any surgical procedure, and this donation enables the local health personnel to perform up to 30,000 operations.

The sutures are transported from the warehouse in our headquarters in Lynge to the Ministry of Health in Lviv, from where the sutures are distributed to central hospitals and mobile clinics all over Ukraine.

The Danish Emergency Management Agency (Beredskabsstyrelsen) has managed the coordination with the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. Together, we succeeded to obtain the Ukrainian approval to accept the donation and arrange for all practicalities in connection with the dispatch of the consignment.

By realising this donation, we contribute to saving the lives of the wounded soldiers and the civilian casualties suffering from the devastating consequences of the war. We are all very grateful for having the opportunity and possibility to make this donation of life-saving sutures.

Our thoughts are with all the people of Ukraine affected by this tragedy.

ABOUT OUR PARTNER, GLOBAL MEDICAL AID

Global Medical Aid (GMA) is a voluntary humanitarian organisation founded in 2010. GMA collects and distributes usable medicine and functional hospital equipment for the benefit of populations in developing countries in cooperation with private companies and public institutions.
Products are donated to a wide range of developing countries in cooperation with Ministries of Health and local NGOs. Through an extensive network in Eastern Europe, Africa and Southeast Asia, GMA coordinates and ensures that the donations unfold their maximum potential for the benefit of the patients.

Orthopedic surgeon, Finn Warburg, has more than 40 years’ experience with war surgery and has been working as staff surgeon with the Danish Emergency Management Agency for decades. He states:

“Effective surgery is impossible without sutures. The present situation in Ukraine has raised the need for life- and limb-saving surgery for victims of war and other critically ill patients. Lack of sutures in the hospitals would create life-threatening situations. The dispatchment of the great amount of sutures is a key function in support of the Ukrainians’ fight for their freedom.”

ABOUT SUTURES
Suturing is one of the most critical factors in a healthy recovery for surgery patients. Proper suturing is crucial for healing, infection prevention and in minimising scarring.

Absorbable sutures are sutures that naturally dissolve and are absorbed by the body as the wound heals. They are made of materials such as the fibers that line animal intestines or artificially created polymers that easily dissolve into the body. As absorbable sutures do not need to be removed by a doctor making them ideal for healing internal wounds. Absorbable sutures are commonly used for deep tissue operations, which can be hard to reach after the surgery.

Non-absorbable sutures are made of nylon or silk and provide good tensile strength with low tissue reactivity. Non-absorbable sutures are commonly used to suture facial wounds, where the cosmetic outcome is key, as the low reactivity is known to cause less scarring.

One of our objectives for 2021/22 was to engage in CSR activities in our local communities in India. This year, we have chosen to support the Mata Laxmi Rotary Institute for Speech and Hearing Handicapped (Deaf & Dumb School) located in Adipur, Gandhidham region of Gujarat state in western India.

The Deaf & Dumb School was established in 1985 and provides free education, teaching material and transportation for its 65 students from 1st to 8th grade.

The school is equipped with 15 classrooms, a playground, indoor games area, a library and a computer-aided learning lab.

Missionpharma supports all 65 students with uniforms, shoes and school bags as well as solar power installations for their water purification system in order to provide safe and clean drinking water to the school children in a sustainable manner.

Donation ceremony at the Mata Laxmi Rotary Institute for Speech and Hearing Handicapped (Deaf & Dumb School) located in Adipur, Gandhidham region of Gujarat state in western India. Missionpharma donated uniforms, shoes and school bags for all 65 students.

The donated solar power installations to the Mata Laxmi Rotary Institute for Speech and Hearing Handicapped were inaugurated by Missionpharma’s CEO, Christian Overgaard, in Spring 2022.