Dimitrios Giannakopoulos
Dimitrios Pavlos Giannakopoulos is a Greek businessman, President and CEO of VIANEX, President of Panathinaikos Athletic Club and owner of the 50% of the company SUPERFOODS SA.
Biographical information
Dimitris Giannakopoulos was born in Athens. He is the only son of Pavlos Giannakopoulos’ founder of VIANEX, the largest Greek pharmaceutical company today.On the side of his father, he is originally from Sellasia, Laconia.
In 2004, Dimitris Giannakopoulos became the first Vice President, and in January 2012 he became Deputy CEO of VIANEX. In 2019, he was appointed President and CEO of VIANEX.
In June 2018 he was elected President of Panathinaikos Athletic Club.
He is married to Ioanna Marosouli, with whom he has two children, Despoina and Pavlos.
Business activity
VIANEX
The involvement of the Giannakopoulos family in the field of pharmaceuticals started in 1924, in the pharmacy on Peiraios Street. The decisive step was made by Paul Giannakopoulos in 1960, with the establishment of the company FARMAGIAN, which in 1971 became an SA and was renamed into VIANEX SA. The manufacturing activity of the company started in 1977 with the creation of the first factory. By 1999, VIANEX had acquired four modern factories in Athens and Achaia while at Varympompi it had established its main offices and distribution centre of finished products. In 1995, the subsidiary VIAN SA was established, to distribute and market well-known over-the-counter products, food supplements, as well as diagnostic and parapharmaceutical products.The company employs 1,200 people, with the majority being of highly specialised scientific backgrounds, and invests continuously in their education and training.
Dimitris Giannakopoulos took the reins of the company from his father Paul officially in January 2012 when he also became deputy CEO, in addition to being the Vice Chairman of the BoD of VIANEX.
The new era of the company under the leadership of Dimitris Giannakopoulos was associated with increased outreach and conclusion of important agreements, be them new ones or extension of existing ones. "I handed over the reins of the largest Greek pharmaceutical industry in the country and I'm sure that one day he will also make it the largest one abroad" stated Paul Giannakopoulos in July 2013, on the occasion of the announcement of the collaboration between VIANEX and Eli Lilly, for the production of the injectable antibiotic vancomycin at the facilities of VIANEX and its 100% export in the Chinese market.
At the end of 2017, another important agreement was added to the VIANEX portfolio; this time, with the international pharmaceutical firm JANSSEN, concerning the promotion and distribution by VIANEX of two renowned medicinal products of JANSSEN, prolonged release paliperidone and rabeprazole.
A year later and after 35 years of successful collaboration in the Greek Market, an agreement was signed with MSD to extend their collaboration to the therapeutic category of dyslipidaemia.
In addition, in 2019 VIANEX fully takes over distribution and promotion of the MSD cardiometabolic product portfolio.
A landmark in the history of VIANEX was the acquisition by VIANEX SA of PHARMANEL SA, which was founded in 1991 and employs 48 persons, which was announced in the summer of 2019.
VIANEX’s dedication to quality has been recognised and awarded on many occasions, as can be seen from the highly prestigious awards that it has received from both Pharmaceutical Companies and local Organisations.
VIANEX has been awarded for its export orientation at the Active Greece Awards since 2015. The company has also been awarded with other important business awards such as Diamonds of the Greek Economy and Salus Index.
VIANEX has also received the award at the Health & Safety Awards 2015, for the best practices in workplace health and safety management. The "Integrated Quality of Health and Safety Program of VIANEX" won the award of the "Pharmaceutical Companies" business sector.
Despite the economic crisis, VIANEX did not take any layoffs or wage cuts. The economic size of VIANEX has decreased, but «its employees have supported the company and have contributed over recent years to the achievement of high profit. It is now our duty, as management, regardless of economic performance to support our people», Dimitris Giannakopoulos had said in 2012
VIANEX is a symbol of Greek creative strength in this field.
Its financial strength is combined with its understanding of reliability and this, together with the exceptional annual financial results, makes Vianex one of the most creative and forward-thinking companies in Greece.
The 2019 turnover of VIANEX Group was 302.3 million Euros.
SUPERFOODS
In 2016 Giannakopoulos Group and Papazoglou Group acquired 50-50 of Superfoods, a Greek company of food supplements and natural health products.Superfoods is one of the fastest growing companies in Greek food supplement market with +100% year on year growth. The company has a wide range of food supplements covering a variety of consumer needs.
Social Contribution
Dimitris Giannakopoulos has taken a number of important initiatives of contribution to the Greek society through VIANEX, Panathinaikos BC and DPG.To raise awareness on the issue of cardiovascular disease risk, VIANEX offered 15,000 LDL cholesterol tests as part of the great Greek Patient Support Programme “We and you measure LDL... “, under the auspices of the Greek Society of Lipidology, Atherosclerosis and Vascular Disease. Also, VIANEX offered 300 vaccines to the Social Health Centre and Pharmacy of the Holy Metropolis of Arkalochori, Kastelli and Viannos and the Municipality of Minoa Pediada Crete, in order to protect the health of children, and to safeguard public health. Support to the Child Protection Centre of Attica "MOTHER" was provided by DPG, whose people visited the nursery and the accommodation facilities to distribute Christmas presents, such as sweets, clothes, shoes, Sudocrem cream as well as Panathinaikos blankets from the Pao Shop.
They also responded to the call of Make-A-Wish, by participating in a charity dinner organised at the Benaki Museum.
Panathinaikos and Dimitris Giannakopoulos donated five state-of-the-art wheelchairs to the PIKPA at Voula for the institution’s team taking part in the National Wheelchair Basketball Championship, The president of the National Association of Paraplegics has awarded Dimitris Giannakopoulos for his social contribution.
Specialised equipment worth 50,000 Euros was donated by Dimitris Giannakopoulos to the Underwater Missions Unit of the Coast Guard. The Vice President and Deputy CEO of VIANEX was awarded the Shield of Honour by the head of the Hellenic Coast Guard, Vice Admiral Athanasios Athanasopoulos and the Director of Special Forces, Captain Alexios Karakoulas for his contribution.
He offered 55 high-visibility jackets to the Traffic Police of Attiki Odos, as equipment upgrade and to facilitate their work, in an event joined by the Director of the Traffic Police of Attica, Brigadier General D. Papanagiotou, and the Commander of Traffic Police Department of Attiki Odos, Captain E. Kountromichalis. The Director of the Attica Traffic Police thanked Mr Giannakopoulos, offering an honorary plaque. As part of the contribution of VIANEX, Dimitris Giannakopoulos donated to the Greek Police 10 high-performance motorcycles.
VIANEX SA has undertaken several Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives, through which it supports many associations, organisations and social welfare organisations that are active in the health sector and beyond. It also works closely with the country’s teaching clinics and research centres to promote scientific knowledge and direct use of research in VIANEX’s production centres, for the benefit of the general public.
In 2019 the company made a donation to the Oncology Hospital "St. Savvas” for the electronic control system of the PET-CT scanner.
Panathinaikos B.C.
In 2012, Dimitris Giannakopoulos took charge of Panathinaikos B.C., after his father, Pavlos, and his uncle, Thanasis, who managed the club before him.During his Presidency, the team won two consecutive Greek doubles. However, in December 2014, he resigned from the club's President position, giving his seat to Manos Papadopoulos. He claimed to have been forced to proceed to such a move because of the constant sanctions and fines imposed on the club by the Greek State.
Since 2018 the Pavlos Giannakopoulos tournament is organized annually honoring Pavlos and Thanasis contribution