The World of Arts, Fairy-Tales, and Pharmacy

Elżbieta Murawska is the CEO of Krotex Pharm Sp. z o.o. Sp. K., a pharmaceutical company whose drugs, Ecomer and Trilac, have been given the biggest number of indications in the analysis of consumer choices conducted by Biostat Research and Development Agency. Furthermore, the company has also received the title ‘The Best & More’ for its social activity. CEO of Krotex is not only a businesswoman, but most of all she is an outstanding illustrator and painter, awarded for her works in Poland and abroad.

Krotex Pharm came into being 27 years ago. It was set up by Prof. Marcin Krotkiewski, a distinguished endocrinologist, specialist in internal medicine and rehabilitation, and Elżbieta Murawska’s brother. He lived in Sweden for 40 years and worked as a consultant for pharmaceutical companies in the process of developing medicines of natural origin. He managed companies in Sweden and Poland, where he introduced well-known drugs OTC Trilac, Ecomer, and Reducan to the market. The Murawskis cooperated with Krotex Pharm for years, designing packages, advertising posters, materials for the press. Elżbieta, a woman with the soul of an artist and painter, graduate from the Fine Arts Academy in Warsaw, has been managing the company for years now.
‘Our two flagship products are Trilac and Ecomer’, the CEO explains. ‘When Trilac was launched, there were only five similar products on the market; now there are over 140, but only several of them have the status of a drug. We have our mission, because we are deeply convinced that our products are excellent. They are not supplements, they are drugs. And it must be communicated to the constantly growing group of our patients.’

Trilac is a drug containing selected strains of live probiotic bacteria. The preparation has a very beneficial effect on the human digestive system as it contains lactic acid bacteria, which by lowering the pH in the gastrointestinal tract, allow the development of normal intestinal flora and prevent the settlement and development of pathogenic microorganisms. Used during antibiotic therapy, the drug prevents devastation of the human body, particularly of the digestive system. ‘The drug was developed thanks to the efforts of specialists from Denmark and Sweden,’ says Elżbieta. ‘My brother got truly impressed with it when he was working in Sweden, and he decided to introduce it to the Polish market. Many medical studies have been devoted to Trilac and today, many years later, it is still incredibly popular among patients.’

Ecomer is the only medicinal preparation available on the Polish market that contains alkylglycerols. It is a product used worldwide for centuries now, and it derives from the traditional Swedish medicine. Shark liver oil, rich in alkylglycerols, has numerous applications. Its basic action consists in increasing immunity of the human body, which accounts for normal functioning of the entire human body. It protects against flu and bacteria in a natural way, as well as it can be used as adjunctive treatment accompanying the radio- and chemotherapy of cancers. ‘Actually, this is a medicine for everything; naturally, most of all to be used to improve one’s immunity, but it is also helpful e.g. in treatment of wounds. Personally, I have been using it for years, and young children simply love it, which is surprising, because they used to run away from unpalatable fish liver oil.’
Krotex Pharm employs over 40 people, with 20 salesmen among them. It also cooperates with physicians, specialists dealing with probiotics, and it constantly works on new preparations. On behalf of Krotex Pharm the Murawskis buy gifts for children from Children’s Home in Suwałki. Thanks to them the kids have bicycles and trampolines. Helping others is in the CEO’s blood. Her great grandfather, professor of medicine, Ignacy Baranowski, was one of the founders of the Fine Arts Academy in Warsaw. His literary salon at Krakowskie Przedmieście street in Warsaw was frequented by Henryk Sienkiewicz, Eliza Orzeszkowa, members of the Warsaw Scientific Society, of which he was one of the founders. He devoted large sums to charity and culture. He gave the National Museum a valuable collection of paintings and porcelain.

When Elżbieta has done all her work for the day, she sits in front of her easel. Her artistic path has been very long and successful. She has exhibited her works at over 200 exhibitions nearly all over the world. After her diploma, which the artist devoted to graphics under the supervision of the famous Henryk Tomaszewski, she got involved with illustration. It was her form of artistic expression. But a different one, a new one. ‘I opposed to the then trend, according to which illustrations in books for children should be straightforward, cute, and delicate,’ she explains. ‘I tried to expressed emotions, because this is what children need.’ Her illustrations prepared for such publishing houses as e.g. Nasza Księgarnia or Ludowa Spółdzielnia Wydawnicza were appreciated worldwide. Book illustrations attracted Marian Murawski, a distinguished artists and Elżbieta’s husband, too. Together they achieved great successes and collected prizes. ‘We were in Warsaw, as it was extremely difficult to leave then, whereas our works were travelling all over the world,’ she recollects. ‘They were exhibited in the United States, Italy, Japan, and even in Sao Paulo, Brazil.’ The Murawskis’ illustrations were also displayed in the famous Centre Pompidou in Paris. Among the many prizes they have won, there is the Golden Apple, the Grand Prix at the first international Biennial of Illustration in Bratislava. Elżbieta cherishes it.

The artist returned to painting after the political transformation, when publishing houses gave up their artistic ambitions for commercialism. New patterns emerged, and they weren’t as satisfactory for Elżbieta as before. Today, she creates extremely colourful works, full of reflections on the fate of man. They evoke enormous interest and emotions during exhibitions. Recently, she exhibited her works in the Polish Olympic Committee and in the National Library, where the works of Marian Murawski were displayed, as well, and the exhibition was entitled ‘A Fairy-Tale Marriage’. Soon her paintings will be available for viewers during ‘The Best & More’ Conference in Gliwice and during the ‘True Leader’ Congress in Rzeszów, as well as in other locations promoted by WHY Story Magazine. When talking about her work, the CEO of Krotex stresses with a smile: ‘My true occupation is artistic and connected with painting, and the pharmaceutical business is my hobby.’
We hope that this hobby brings Elżbieta Murawska still as much satisfaction as many satisfied patients there are who make use of the blessings of nature locked in the capsules of Trilac and Ecomer.

Beata Sekuła
Anna Szwed