Bulgaria’s largest pharmaceutical producer Sopharma had entered the Serbian market for the first time after registering its Tabex anti-tobacco medicine, the company said in a message to the Bulgarian Stock Exchange – Sofia (BSE) on October 30, as quoted by Dnevnik daily.

Tabex was an original Bulgarian medicine of plant origin for the treatment of tobacco smoking. It was based on an alkaloid called Cytisine, contained in the plant Golden Rain Acacia (Cytisus laborinum). Cytisine was a toxic pyridine-like alkaloid. Pharmacologically it exhibited similar effects to nicotine due to structural similarity of the two molecules.

In the human body, Cytisine played the role of nicotine substitution substance, and reduced the period of interaction of the received nicotine with relevant nicotine receptors, thus preventing the appearance of restraint problems. This resulted in a gradual reduction and suspension of the dependency on nicotine.

In February 2007, Sopharma started manufacturing products of the Flixotide series of GlaxoSmithKline, which were proven efficient in the treatment of bronchial asthma and could be used by both adults and children. GlaxoSmithKline had already transferred the rights and licences for them to Sopharma.

In September, the Bulgarian company signed a contract to create a joint-venture with Polish firm Natur Produkt Zdrovit, which manufactures and markets vitamins, mineral and herbal supplements, as well as over-the-counter medicines and cosmetics.