The manufacture of pharmaceuticals at the Homagama plant has been going on despite the Covid-19 hurdles and plans are afoot to commence commercial manufacturing soon, said Hemas Holding Group Chief Executive Officer Kasturi Chellaraja Wilson in an interview with the Sunday Observer Business last week.
She said the qualification and validation processes were completed despite the challenges posed by the global pandemic adding that the company will manufacture essential medicines for the government and the private sector. “We built the technology to manufacture some advanced products at the plant and such products will be added to the portfolio subsequently. We have yet to receive final approval from the regulator to commence commercial operations,” Wilson said, adding that if the regulator can look at the approval process without a restrictive approach and fast track the approvals, as it is done in the regional countries such as India and Bangladesh and refer the international regulatory guidelines such as SUPAC-IR and EudraLex, the company manufacturing facility could contribute by adding value to the economy much faster by saving the much needed forex. Morison PLC, a fully owned subsidiary of Hemas Holdings, has invested over Rs. 2.9 billion on the pharmaceutical manufacturing plant. “The best way we could support the health sector is to ensure we have an uninterrupted flow of medicinal products and services to meet the needs of the people,” she said, adding that the Group has always shown its readiness to support the Government’s herculean efforts to bring the pandemic under control. “We need to work with the Government to ensure essential medicines are available for the public through sensible policies,” Wilson said.