Mathias Hevert, third-generation leader of Hevert-Arzneimittel, has guided the family-owned company as CEO for more than 20 years. Founded in 1956, Hevert specialises in naturopathic medicines, including homoeopathic combination remedies, herbal products and micronutrient preparations, with revenues planned to reach EUR 40 million. The company remains focused on the German market while expanding internationally, particularly in India, and aims to strengthen its role through innovation, practitioner education and integrative medicine.
Could you begin by introducing yourself and describing Hevert-Arzneimittel, its market position, size and current performance?
I have been chief executive of Hevert Arzneimittel for 23 years, the past 12 of them alongside my brother Marcus Hevert. I commute between our headquarters, roughly one hour from Frankfurt in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and Berlin, where I live with my family and where we also maintain this office.
We were founded in 1956 by my grandparents, Emil and Dorothea Hevert, beginning with homoeopathic combination remedies and herbal remedies. My father joined the company in 1972 and took over its leadership in 1990, heading it until his death in 2003 at just 55 years old. He was responsible for a significant expansion of our product portfolio, introducing micronutrients, which have become increasingly important to us in recent years.
To this day, we consider ourselves specialists in naturopathic medicine, spanning homoeopathic combination remedies, herbal remedies and micronutrient preparations, whether vitamins or botanicals. About 10 years ago, after six decades focused solely on pharmaceutical products, we began launching supplements. We see this as a particularly interesting part of our portfolio, partly because regulation is less strict than in the pharmaceutical field, allowing for a degree of innovation that is harder to achieve elsewhere in our business.
We plan to reach a turnover of 40 million euros this year. Less than 10 percent of that comes from international markets, so we remain very much a domestic player, though we do export, with Mongolia, China, Luxembourg, Austria and the United Arab Emirates among our most important markets. India is also a strategic focus. We have our own representative office there and already sell in the market, although we are still awaiting the necessary permissions to expand our business fully. Given the strong reputation of German quality and the established role of homoeopathy in India, we believe the market offers considerable long-term potential.
As a manufacturer of pharmacy-only medicines, we are firmly committed to the pharmacy channel. In Germany, online pharmacies now account for around 50 percent of our turnover, a share that has grown significantly in recent years, although our products continue to be dispensed through pharmacies regardless of whether they are purchased online or in-store. Our field force works closely with prescribing physicians, pharmacies and natural health practitioners, known in Germany as Heilpraktiker, who represent another important customer group.
Our commercial approach combines personal engagement with targeted education. Sales representatives and key account managers work closely with independent pharmacies, larger pharmacy groups and online pharmacies, while print advertising in professional healthcare publications supports brand visibility. We also invest heavily in education through the Hevert Academy, which offers a broad programme of training in naturopathic medicine, much of it product-neutral. Over the years, we have built a strong community of healthcare professionals who regularly participate in our webinars and educational conferences.
How is your portfolio divided between homoeopathic, herbal and supplement products?
The lion’s share of our revenue still comes from medicinal products, though supplements are growing quickly. We expect that within the next two years, supplements will account for around 40 percent of our turnover.
In terms of formats, we produce tablets, capsules, drops, sprays and injection solutions, with oral forms being the most important. We manufacture drops and tablets in-house at our headquarters, while capsules, injection solutions and sprays are produced by contract manufacturers.
Our strongest therapeutic areas are nervous disorders and sleeplessness, coughs and colds, digestive problems, and malnutrition, including vitamin and micronutrient deficiencies. Homoeopathic combination remedies, in the form of drops and tablets, still account for the largest share of our sales, followed by our micronutrient portfolio, with herbal and allopathic products in third place.
Germany has a distinctive regulatory position on homoeopathy compared with markets where it sits in something of a grey zone. Could you walk us through how this ecosystem works here, and whether it represents an advantage?
Homoeopathy was developed by the German physician Samuel Hahnemann around 1800. After relocating to France later in his life, he helped establish the practice there, and today Germany and France remain its two principal markets.
Homoeopathic remedies fall into two categories: single remedies and combination remedies. Single remedies are typically registered with the German Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices without a specific indication, and are administered only by well-trained homoeopaths who can determine which single remedy suits an individual patient. Combination remedies, which account for the majority of the market, generally carry clear clinical indications and require full marketing authorisation to make such claims. Combination homoeopathy is a comparatively modern form of the practice, prescribed less by classical homoeopaths and more by doctors open to naturopathic treatment, particularly those specialising in naturopathy, as well as being recommended by pharmacy staff and prescribed widely by Heilpraktiker. Classical and combination homoeopathy share the same roots, but operate in very different markets.
For 200 years, homoeopathy has faced recurring criticism from various quarters, and anyone working in the field is familiar with this dynamic. I find it a considerable distraction from the work of healing patients and growing the business to have to repeatedly engage in what is often a near-religious debate about whether homoeopathy works at all. I also believe Germany should do more to promote homoeopathy as an export strength, in the way China actively promotes traditional Chinese medicine internationally as a commercial asset. Germany could take a similar approach, but currently does not.
Given that Germany is where homoeopathy originated, one might assume broad openness toward these treatments here. How are they actually perceived by professionals and consumers, and what remains to be addressed?
I see homoeopathy as one part of a broader naturopathic approach, whose particular strength lies in seeking the root causes of illness rather than simply addressing symptoms. Anyone focused on the health of patients, with healing as the primary goal, should consider what integrative medicine, meaning the combination of allopathic and naturopathic approaches, has to offer. Naturopathy aims not only to identify the roots of a problem but to treat them directly, working from the principle of supporting the body’s own capacity to heal itself.
Our philosophy is rooted in integrative medicine. We see naturopathic medicines as particularly valuable where they can support the body’s natural capacity to recover, while recognising that many conditions require conventional medical treatment. Rather than setting one approach against another, our aim is to combine the strengths of different therapeutic traditions, whether naturopathic or allopathic, European, Chinese, African or from the Americas, in the interests of the patient.
What is your commercial strategy, and where do you see the greatest opportunities to strengthen your market position?
Manufacturers of pharmacy-only medicines generally have two commercial options. One is to market products much like prescription medicines, by engaging with doctors through educational visits, seminars, scientific conferences, publications and clinical studies. The other is to adopt a more consumer-oriented strategy, promoting products directly through traditional and digital media. A further strategic choice is how to balance offline and online pharmacy channels. Online pharmacies have grown steadily since the first cross-border entrant began selling into Germany from the Netherlands around 2000, followed by the opening of the market to German operators in 2004. Today, they account for around 50 percent of our turnover, and most manufacturers of over-the-counter medicines operate across both online and offline channels.
Our strategy is centred on healthcare professionals, particularly doctors, Heilpraktiker and pharmacy staff. We invest heavily in educating them about our products, how they differ from competing alternatives and how they can best be recommended and used. We support offline pharmacies with point-of-sale and promotional materials, while providing online pharmacies with the digital tools they need to engage consumers effectively. At the heart of our approach is building long-term partnerships. Rather than trying to reach every doctor or pharmacy, we concentrate on those with the greatest potential and a genuine interest in working with us, developing relationships that create lasting value for both sides.
How would you characterise Hevert’s brand reputation among consumers and healthcare professionals today?
We operate under a single umbrella brand, which is also our corporate name: Hevert. We considered this carefully some years ago and decided to use the German pronunciation internationally. Most of our products incorporate the Hevert name into their branding. Among our best-known products are Calmvalera Hevert, Sinusitis Hevert, Vitamin B12 Hevert and Vitamin D3 Hevert, with the Hevert logo prominently displayed on the packaging. This consistent branding allows us to introduce new products while reinforcing the trust associated with more than 70 years of pharmaceutical expertise and company history.
We aim to combine tradition with innovation, drawing on well-established active ingredients while continuously developing new formulations, particularly in our micronutrient range. Here, we differentiate ourselves through carefully developed combinations and a focus on high-quality ingredients.
One recent example is our curcumin-based product Curcumin Hevert OptiSolv. Curcumin, a plant-derived active ingredient originating from India, is known for its anti-inflammatory properties, but its bioavailability has traditionally been a challenge, as the body absorbs only limited amounts from conventional formulations. We partnered with a start-up that developed patented technology enabling the ingredient to dissolve effectively in water without artificial additives, significantly improving absorption. This allows patients to achieve the desired effect with a lower dose while increasing the amount of active ingredient available to the body. Innovations of this kind are an important part of our approach to the market.
Our greatest challenge remains ensuring that enough customers are aware of these differences and understand the value of our products. As a mid-sized company, we compete with businesses that have significantly greater marketing reach and visibility. Our focus is therefore on consistently communicating our strengths, reaching the right customers and demonstrating the benefits of our approach.
You established the Hevert Foundation with your brother and sister. What inspired you to create it, and how do you see its role evolving in the future?
The Hevert Foundation reflects our commitment to supporting initiatives that go beyond our core business, with a particular focus on scientific research, education, sustainability and social development. In the field of integrative medicine, the foundation awards the Dr. Wolfgang Hevert Prize every two years to recognise outstanding research. The prize is named in honour of our late father, a pharmacist and physician with a strong focus on naturopathy, who developed many of the products that remain part of our portfolio today. The award includes a grant of 10,000 euros.
The foundation also supports long-term social projects. For more than 10 years, we have worked with the renowned architect Francis Kéré, originally from Burkina Faso. Through the foundation, we have contributed to the development of social infrastructure in his home region, including a school extension, parts of a library and secondary school, and a health centre for women.
Today, the foundation is funded by Hevert-Arzneimittel, but our ambition is to establish a more independent model over time. By building sufficient capital, we aim for the foundation’s own returns to finance the projects it supports, ensuring that its social impact can continue sustainably into the future.
Looking ahead to 2028, what are your key priorities, and what would you like to share when we speak again?
Our ambition is to grow across the markets where we are already present while further strengthening our position in Germany’s over-the-counter market, particularly through the development of innovative micronutrient products with clear benefits for consumers. A key strategic priority is to establish a strong and sustainable presence in India. The market is significant not only because of its size, but also because it offers a degree of independence from European market developments and the potential to support long-term growth over many decades.
We also see strong opportunities in East Asia, particularly China and Mongolia, as well as in South America, where we are currently active through a partner in Colombia. Outside India, these international markets are primarily developed through partnerships and distributors.
Beyond geographic expansion, we want to strengthen our role as more than a manufacturer of naturopathic products. Our goal is to become a trusted partner for healthcare professionals by supporting practitioner education and helping integrate naturopathic approaches into everyday practice. Our academy has established this role in Germany, and we intend to extend its reach internationally over time.
Is there anything else you would like to raise?
One additional point worth highlighting is the ongoing discussion at European Union level around the regulation of micronutrient products, including potential maximum dosage levels. We are following this closely because we have developed particular expertise in high-dose micronutrient preparations. Products with full marketing authorisation are not affected by this specific discussion, but some of our high-dose micronutrient products are classified as food supplements, and it is within this regulatory framework that new maximum levels are currently being considered.
Any changes could have a significant impact on the market, which is why we believe it is important that future limits are based on sound scientific evidence. We recognise the importance of ensuring consumer safety, but we also believe that regulation should allow access to products at dosages that are both safe and meaningful, based on scientific assessment and the needs of patients.
