Plasma stands as the origin of life and growth, and its supply directly shapes the health and wealth landscape of the global biopharma sector. In recent years, Grifols, a Catalan-founded company, has faced a shifting path. The year 2021 marked a turning point as the company rolled out a strategic plan aimed at boosting growth and expanding its public market footprint. While some observations may have come from opportunistic sources, the public record shows a move toward diversification, embracing new avenues in research and development to counterbalance constraints in plasma collection on an international scale. For Grifols, human plasma serves as the raw material for a family of blood derivatives, pharmaceutical specialty products whose active ingredients are derived from the plasma of healthy donors, processed through rigorous separation and purification steps.
Victor Grifols, then co-CEO in 2021, publicly stated that the firm would narrow its focus to core competencies while investing more in research. The message was clear: a new paradigm in blood products would reduce dependence on any single market, notably the United States, where growth had previously been concentrated. In fiscal 2020 the company had already shown substantial gains from newer products, underscoring the potential for a broader, more resilient portfolio.
Grifols faced a sharp stock-market downturn after a report alleging inflated figures
The principal drivers of expansion at that time included acquisitions tied to the global push, with notable involvement from companies in the Chiron, Alkahest, and Gigagen axis, alongside a strategy to internationalize operations—especially in China, Egypt, and the United States. In the following years, the initial growth push encountered mixed results.
Blood products occupy a critical role across medical specialties such as immunology, hepatology, intensive care, neurology, hematology, and pulmonology. Blood-derived drugs also find applications in ophthalmology. Grifols pursued an approach aimed at vertically integrating the entire development cycle of plasma-derived medicines. Leadership within the Grifols family, including the involvement of members like Albert Grifols Coma-Cros in new initiatives, signaled a continuity of direction as the company welcomed new generations into leadership roles.
Daniel Yu and Gotham City Research: the public scrutiny that followed
Gotham City Research and its principal analyst, Daniel Yu, raised questions about Grifols’ accounting practices, sparking a discussion about earnings and financial health. Grifols acknowledged that expanding donor recruitment in the United States, Egypt, and China was essential to growth, while recognizing ongoing challenges in sustaining momentum without new strategic paths.
During the period in question, Grifols explored legal tools to enable plasma sourcing in less regulated environments to support operations, particularly in the United States. A decline in donation rates during the pandemic raised alarm, prompting efforts to offset the shortfall through international purchases and financing. The company stressed that plasma is a critical, irreplaceable resource for life-saving medicines.
The Diagnostics division, focused on devices, instruments, and reagents used in transfusion medicine—such as blood typing and donor-patient compatibility testing—showed a positive growth trajectory. Still, market observers cautioned that ongoing acquisitions leveraging loan financing and the consolidation of banking resources could lead to questions about governance and strategy. While some indicators suggested continued margins, others pointed to renewed scrutiny of diversification as a path to growth or a potential misstep that would require independent auditing to validate the long-term plan.