Mayo-based Théa Pharma promote ‘eye care without compromise’
By Tom Gillespie
THÉA Pharma is the Irish subsidiary of Laboratoires Théa, Europe’s leading, pioneering and innovative eye health brand, founded in 1994 by Henri Chibret.
Castlebar-based Théa Pharma was introduced to Ireland in 2018 and within only a few years managed to earn the trust of ophthalmologists, pharmacists and consumers all around the country and became their number one choice for eye care.
According to Diarmuid Gavin, country manager of Théa, their strength lies within their people, stating: “We are a team of dedicated, highly motivated and driven professionals ready to satisfy with the most efficient and effective way the increasing needs and wants of our customers and consumers for eye health.”
He added: “Our motto is ‘Eye care without compromise’ because we believe neither the consumers nor the professionals should be given sub-standard products."
Tourmakeady native Diarmuid told me the success story of the company: “In 2013 I was working in Pamex with Tom Murphy and we came across the Théa range of ophthalmology products - everything to do with the eye. We were promoting them within Pamex until 2017 when Théa, the French global company, approached me and asked would I take the Théa range and set up a joint venture with Pamex.
“In 2018 we established Théa Pamex, the idea being that we would work with the Pamex team for four years and establish Théa Pharma, which we did over the four year tenure of the joint venture.”
Diarmuid continued: “How that worked was we had the models already established in Pamex and we used those channels and all the regulatory pathways in order to set up Théa Pharma.
“We started on February 1, 2018. Day one it was myself and seven others and since then our objective was to grow the businesses to €5 million within the four years of the joint venture. Yes, we managed to do that and during Covid we brought it to €6.2 million and we grew our staff from seven to 20.
“All our manufacturing is done in Europe - in Milan and in France. We have about 36 different products. Some are in the surgical arena so if you went for cataract surgery you are guaranteed to get one of our products prior to the surgery and post surgery and then they will recommend some of our anti-inflammatory products after surgery.
“We also have medicines. In Ireland glaucoma is something that can steal your sight if not detected and treated and our products maintain the optimum pressure within your eye.
“We also have anti-bacterials, some dry eye products, and one of our drops, Thealoz Duo, is the number one in Europe, and one is sold every second globally.
“The global business is still family owned and they are dedicated to ophthalmology. It is only the eye they are interested in.”
The Chibret family and their legacy and history within ophthalmology spans back 150 years when Paul Chibret, the founding father, was in Africa and came across an awful lot of eye conditions. When he returned to France he swore to dedicate his life to eye care and ophthalmology and he travelled extensively around Europe helping others to establish the ophthalmology societies.
Diarmuid continued: “From there the whole history of Théa and the Chibret family was born and our current president is Jean-Frederic Chibret.
“I really believe if you get the culture right with your people and on a daily basis translate that culture into actions and into who we are, that’s when the success will follow. I have a number of words for that and one is ‘fun’.
"Even though we are living and working in a highly regulated business environment, which is the pharmaceutical sector, the most important part for me is that my people, they understand that, but also on a daily basis that we have fun together, we enjoy being around each other, and then working hard does not seem hard.
"My ambition is to ‘catch people in rather than catch people out’. Find them things they are doing well and recognise them with little awards.
“Even though we are a global business, locally we are allowed to really express ourselves as country managers, that this is the culture of us and this is what the global culture looks like, but we are encouraged to make sure that we are weaved into the community, that we are part of the locality, and that people recognise and support employment in terms of charity and reaching out into the community.”
In 2019 the Castlebar team cycled from the Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital in Dublin to Castlebar over two days and raised €20,000 for Fighting Blindness.
Diarmuid went on to say: "We offer a wide range of unique product formulations that cover eight key therapy areas: allergy, anti-inflammatory, dry eye, glaucoma, infection, lid hygiene, eye nutrition and surgery.
“We are uncompromising in our approach to developing the best eye care solutions that won’t damage or irritate eyes. That’s why we are committed to being 100 per cent preservative-free!"
Théa Pharma is located at the Golden Mile Industrial Park, Breaffy Road, Castlebar, F23 D299, and they can be contacted in (094) 9250290.