Ever thought about developing a lucrative blood plasma and plasma derivatives trade enterprise with a business model uniquely devised for communist countries short on hard currency?
Me neither. But Josef Stava (Josef ŠÅ¥áva) has.
The dictionary definition of the word “entrepreneur” equates to a person who undertakes a new enterprise, venture, or idea, and is accountable for the inherent risks and outcome.
By definition, Josef Stava, a highly-esteemed Czech-Swiss businessman and founder of blood plasma trading company Diag Human, embodies the meaning of the word entrepreneur.
When it was established, Josef Stava’s Diag Human had the innovative power and market advantage to transform the pharmaceutical industry in post-communist Central and Eastern Europe and boost the economy of Josef Stava’s former homeland, the Czech Republic. Media outlets report that Eastern Europe’s pharmaceutical market is predicted to grow at a rate of more than 10 percent and be worth more than $41 billion by 2014. Josef Stava was ahead of his time in this innovative market; a major player in the field of blood plasma trading.
An award-winning salesman for healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson, Josef Stava may have been prepared for the inherent risks of operating his venture. But nothing could have prepared him for the Czech government’s illegal behavior concerning his company’s relationship with Novo Nordisk, or how far certain Health Ministry officials would go to annihilate his reputation and wipe out the stunning headway he’d made in the blood trading market.
The very country Josef Stava returned to in order to incubate his dream is precisely what stopped him from attaining his full potential as an entrepreneur, robbing him of a rare opportunity in a lucrative and innovative market.
First, a handful of Czech Health Ministry officials attempted to brand Josef Stava as evil incarnate in the media (He’s an arms dealer! He trades contaminated blood! He’s a Swiss national!). Then Czech officials compromised Josef Stava’s business contract with Danish company Novo Nordisk, which was crucial to Diag Human’s ability to penetrate the market. While Czech government officials were simply trying to secure their own profit and deceive their citizens, Josef Stava had invested over CZK 190 million in his business, developed the blood plasma market from ground up, and secured winning contracts with numerous hospitals in Czechoslovakia that were eager for his business.
In 2008, Josef Stava won a long-standing legal battle with the Czech government for its illegal interference with his enterprise, and was awarded damages north of CZK 8 billion, which he sincerely deserves.
The Czech government, however, still refuses to pay and meet its legal obligations to Josef Stava or Diag Human, depriving the world justice for one of the most innovative entrepreneurs to emerge from the pharmaceutical industry.
Leave Your Comments