Grifols' revenues grew by 13.6% in 2019 to EUR 5,099 million, while its net profit increased by 4.8% to EUR 625 million. Both results highlight Grifols' progress toward its long-term and sustainable growth strategy, which led to sales increases in its main divisions in all regions of operation.

Grifols' operations in 2019 aimed to reinforce factors crucial to advancing its corporate growth plan, such as strategic investments to increase its access to plasma; efforts to strength the company's global presence; optimization of its financial structure; and a renewed focus on innovation and capital investments as key drivers of its growth.

The strategic alliance with Shanghai RAAS, announced in 2019 and closed in 2020, has enabled Grifols to boost its commercial presence in China, one of the world's fastest-growing markets for plasma-derived products and transfusion diagnostic solutions. In addition, the company also closed a transaction with GC Pharma (Green Cross Group) to acquire different assets in Canada, henceforth becoming the only large-scale manufacturer of plasma products in this country. Both transactions have significantly advanced Grifols' international expansion efforts.

Another important achievement in 2019 was the optimization of Grifols' financial structure. The company finalized a debt financing process, leading to a lower average cost of debt and longer maturities. The process was well accepted by the market and completed in record time. Grifols also reinforced its liquidity position in 2020 after signing an upsize of its multicurrency revolving credit facility. As of June 30, 2020, the company's liquidity position stands at EUR 1,900 million. The optimization and reduction of debt levels remains a priority for Grifols' financial management.

In 2019, Grifols continued to promote innovation and capital investments as key drivers of its long-term and sustainable growth strategy, allocating a total of EUR 661 million. Over the last five years, the company has allotted more than EUR 3,150 million to these core areas.

In terms of R+D+i highlights in 2019, Grifols completed its AMBAR (Alzheimer Management By Albumin Replacement) clinical trial, designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of plasma replacement therapy. This is a procedure combining periodic extractions of plasma through plasmapheresis with albumin and immunoglobulin infusions. As presented in several international conferences, AMBAR's findings demonstrate a significant slowdown in disease progression in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's. These positive results encourage Grifols to continue its research efforts on discovering the potential benefits of plasma protein replacement therapies.

Grifols also announced an agreement to acquire the remaining capital of Alkahest, Inc. for USD 146 million to promote the research and development of innovative therapies based on the human plasma proteome to treat age-related diseases.

Alkahest currently has four candidates in six phase-2 clinical trials, including therapies to treat neurogenerative disorders, cognitive decline, neuromuscular and ophthalmological diseases. Alkahest has developed a map of the human plasma proteome, facilitating the identification of plasma proteins and their recombinant analogues as potential therapeutic solutions.

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