Hemas’ Morison opens biggest pharma facility with $ 18.5 m investment

 Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa inaugurating the manufacturing facility yesterday while Health Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi, Trade Minister Bandula Gunawardena, State Minister of Production, Supply and Regulation of Pharmaceuticals, Prof. Channa Jayasumana and Hemas Holdings Group CEO Kasturi Chellaraja Wilson look on  - Pic by Upul Abayasekara  

• PM inaugurates manufacturing plant located within Nano Technology Park in Pitipana, Homagama
• New venture to reinforce Govt.’s target to boost pharmaceutical production
• Morison is the largest oral solid dosage pharmaceutical manufacturer in Sri Lanka
• New plant has capacity to supply over 20% of Sri Lanka’s tablet needs
• EU-GMP compliant plant eyes exports as well

By Safna Malik

In a major boost to the pharmaceutical industry, Morison PLC of Hemas Group opened the largest manufacturing facility with an investment of $ 18.5 million (Rs. 3.4 billion) yesterday, which has the capacity to supply over 20% of Sri Lanka’s tablet requirement. 

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa inaugurated the state-of-the-art manufacturing plant and research and development facility located within the Sri Lanka Nano Technology Park in Pitipana, Homagama.

Morison is the largest oral solid dosage pharmaceutical manufacturer in Sri Lanka and a subsidiary of Hemas Holdings PLC. The facility opened yesterday is the second of the company. The factory is ready to commence validation batches and is expected to start commercial production early next year, supporting the Government’s aim to manufacture essential medicines locally.

Among several officials present were Health Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi; Trade Minister Bandula Gunawardena, State Minister of Production, Supply and Regulation of Pharmaceuticals, Prof. Channa Jayasumana and State Minister of Skills Development, Vocational Education, Research and Innovation, Minister Dr. Seetha Arambepola.

Morison said it is committed to increasing access to high quality, affordable medicines to all Sri Lankans and has taken a giant step towards enabling it, with the new plant which has a capacity to supply over 20% of Sri Lanka’s tablet needs. A pioneer in the local manufacture of pharmaceuticals, via the new plant, Morison said a new milestone was reached as it is the first European Union-Good Manufacturing Practice (EU-GMP) compliant oral solid dosage manufacturing plant in Sri Lanka.

Health Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi said the new facility will enable Sri Lanka to save valuable foreign exchange by substituting imports.

“The Government congratulates Morison and Hemas for initiating this important venture. We are committed to promote local manufacturing of quality pharmaceuticals and a competitive environment,” she added.

Trade Minister Bandula Gunawardena said that even though the State Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Corporation is manufacturing medicines in large scale with a big investment, Sri Lanka must win international markets with high quality products.  

He said annually Sri Lanka spends Rs. 130 billion on import of medicines and only 15% is produced locally. “It is in that context that the new Government led by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa is encouraging higher local manufacturing,” he added.

Morison Managing Director Murtaza Esufally said: “The launch of the new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility marks a new era for Morison PLC, continuing our 80-year long mission to offer the highest quality products at affordable prices. This investment is supported through the guaranteed buy-back agreements that will help us to build economies of scale and be more competitive in global markets. 

“Continued government support will enable us to create a stronger footprint in exports and begin contract manufacture partnerships with Global-Pharma companies, helping Sri Lanka earn valuable foreign exchange as we look to the future.” Esufally continued.

GMP compliance requires that medicines are of consistent high quality and are appropriate for their intended use. EU-GMP is an essential requirement to be a credible pharmaceutical manufacturer and exporter to global regulated markets.

 “We at Morison continue to look forward to delivering the highest quality products by partnering with global pharmaceutical leaders, with whom Hemas is privileged to have strong relationships. We will explore this new phase of growth in conformance with global protocols and regulations, through the formulation of new products and the development of opportunities in new markets,” 

 “Our partnership with SLINTEC will advance our strides in formulation research through the deployment of nano and advanced technology,” he added.

Morison produces 75 different formulations of medicine and intends to grow that portfolio in the coming years to address Sri Lanka’s growing medicinal needs, especially in the sphere of non-communicable diseases. 

Its new plant has an annual production capacity of 5 billion tablets and 10 million bottles of medicine working at peak capacity on double shift and aims to improve employment opportunities with the creation of 250 skilled jobs. 

The strength of the factory lies not only in its manufacturing capabilities. It also lies in its ability to create more skilled jobs and uplift the Homagama community through exposure of pharmaceutical sciences to the schools in the area and by working with higher educational institutions for internships and joint research.

The new plant is designed for minimum human intervention to prevent human error and includes cutting edge equipment such as the fully automated liquid manufacturing and packing lines, fully-fledged chemical and microbiology labs, separate air handling units to control environment conditions; and is also equipped with Enterprise Resource Planning software. The plant also has the first zero liquid discharge wastewater systems in the country.