Kathmandu, Dec. 26:
The Tablet
Manufacturing Unit at Nepal Drug Company (NDC) is in the final phase of
reconstruction and will be completed within a couple of weeks with the
installation of a compression machine.
All the core facilities
have been already installed, and the compression machine is shortly arriving
Kathmandu from India.
The new plant will have
a production capacity of 320,000 tablets per batch, every 4 to 5 days.
The company on Tuesday
said that it would begin the production of Cetamol, a paracetamol tablet which
once dominated the medicine market in the country, by the end of January 2018.
Works related to
tendering for the import of raw materials, packaging and distribution have been
concluded.
“We are making
preparations to produce at least six other products, including iron pills, Albendazole
and other tablets within this fiscal year 2017/18. I am hopeful of adding one
product every month,” Director General of the NDC Dr. Robhash Kusum Subedi said
at a press conference organised by the company.
Cetamol will be the
first tablet-size medicine and fourth product of the state-owned drug company after
it resumed production of medicines with the production of ‘Jeevan Jal’ – an oral
rehydration solution (ORS) – in May this year after shutting down for eight
years.
Currently, the NDC is
producing Jeevan Jal, glycerine and distilled water.
The company was forced
to halt its operations in 2009 as it couldn’t follow the WHO-GMP guidelines and
Codes on Drug Manufacturing, 1984.
The erstwhile Minister
for Industry Nabindra Raj Joshi had decided to reopen the company in order to
lessen the dependency of medicines on other countries, use domestic raw
materials and herbs, counter the private sector monopoly, and supply necessary
drugs to the government at lower rates.
The minister had
announced that the NDC would produce about 40 types of medicines, including
anti-venom and anti-rabies vaccines, of which 15 types of medicines would be
produced by October 2017.
But lack of cooperation
from the Ministry of Finance, confusion created by the implementation of the
Goods and Services Tax (GST) in India, and change of leadership at the Ministry
of Industry (MoI), had hampered the reoperation process of the company and
delayed the production of pharmaceutical products.
The company was able to come into
operation with a Rs. 64.8 million loan support from the government. The
Ministry of Finance has pledged loans totally Rs. 146.5 million to the company,
but the latter is yet to get the remaining money.
About Rs. 80 million is needed
for the renovation of the plants at the company.
Company secretary Tikaram Aryal
said that the Quality Control Department and Microbiology Department at the NDC
had come into full operation following the installation of 28 types of new
machines.
Similarly, a Research and
Development Department, and Quality Assurance Department have also been
established.
The company plans to produce
medicines of international standard as per the World Health Organisation (WHO)
Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) guidelines.
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