Thailand is not traditionally known to be a manufacturing center due to its ever-changing policies, but OLIC (Thailand) Limited has risen as the nation’s number one contract manufacturing organization (CMO). OLIC’s managing director, Toyoyuki Kamide, talks about the company's new manufacturing facility, its merger with Fuji Pharma, and its status as the number one contract manufacturer in the country.
As a local manufacturer with uncommonly high regional manufacturing practices, how far-reaching are the products the company produces?
OLIC produces products for over 40 multinational organizations, including most of the world’s top 10 pharmaceutical companies, such as Pfizer. Moreover, our products can be sold in regions of the world where the expected standard of quality is very high, such as Russia, Japan and the U.S. Our additional fully-automated terminally sterilization process, which includes vial washing, rubber topper washing, terminal sterilization, time-pressure filling, capping, labeling and packing will further encourage our clients to partner with a reputable organization that does it all!
Before OLIC merged with Fuji Pharma, the company already had high standards of production, but I believe Fuji Pharma’s Japanese roots pushed the company to the next level of excellence because of the high GMP standards expected of pharmaceutical companies in Japan. I believe our global reach will continue to extend to new regions in the Americas, Asia and Europe in the coming years because we OLIC continues to raise the bar for quality pharmaceutical goods manufactured in Southeast Asia.
Tell us about your new manufacturing facility.
Today, we have got OLIC to join Fuji Pharma group and risen to become the nation’s number one contract manufacturer because of our exceptional ability to work as a unified team and our strategic growth plans. In 2016 we will open our doors to a new state-of-the-art facility that named the CHIYO Project. This project involves a new parenteral manufacturing facility with a new warehouse building to increase our capacity. This modern facility will have controlled and non-controlled temperature to regulate our products, the design will meet the standards of the Pharmaceutical Inspection Co-operation Scheme (PIC/S), Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP), Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA) of Japan, other globally recognized high standards, among others. The organization has continued to gain the respect of big name organizations around the globe looking to manufacture locally because of the amazing and high quality services we provide for our customers.
Where does the company stand today and what future developments can we expect to see in the coming years?
OLIC (Thailand) Limited was established in 1984 and has a deep-rooted history in Thailand’s pharmaceutical industry providing contract-manufacturing services for pharmaceutical, healthcare, confectionary, and supplementary industries. Previously, the organization was owned and operated by DKSH, one of the region’s largest market expansion service’s groups. Fuji Pharma is a Japanese pharmaceutical organization founded in 1965 that develops, manufactures and markets pharmaceutical products, such as injection agents (including bio similar), and hormonal and diagnostic products. The organization had a 12 years relationship contracting OLIC’s services when the acquisition was made.
What is Fuji Pharma’s role within OLIC (Thailand) Limited?
Fuji Pharma’s relationship with OLIC began in 2000 when OLIC began contract manufacturing products for Fuji Pharma being sold in Japan. Fuji Pharma focuses on medical care for women, In Vitro diagnostics, acute medical care products and curative medicine (injection agents). Moreover, the company provides products that are manufactured and marketed for selected diseases. Currently, Fuji Pharma manufactures ointments at OLIC’s facilities, but our union with OLIC will ensure we grow the company’s product line in the coming years in Japan and internationally.
As a contract manufacturer, what gives OLIC (Thailand) Limited a competitive advantage over other regional players?
Simply put: OLIC (Thailand) Limited is an organization that does what many other contract manufacturers do not do regionally. We take it a notch above the rest by working under the highest quality global standards. International pharmaceutical organizations in need of a high quality local manufacturer can rest assured that the services we provide for them are second to none. Moreover, all manufacturing and packing operations are performed on qualified equipment and are properly documented on batch records. In addition, extensive in process control during manufacturing and packing is executed, and in separate buildings, non-pharmaceutical products are manufactured and packed.
One critical step in the product technical transfer is the product development activity conducted by a team dedicated to this type of work. Such activity enables OLIC to support the development of new products and improve existing formulations, analytical method development, as well as analytical method validation and stability studies. The plant also works around the clock, sometimes 24 hours a day, in order to meet the demands of our clients. OLIC is always prepared to go the extra mile to meet the demands of our clients and adjust to the needs of today’s global market.
Where do you expect to see the organization in the next five years?
The company has done tremendously well over the last decade and since merging with Fuji Pharma the company has implemented some very strategic targets, such as increasing our list of services and increasing our capacity. Over the next few years, we expect to see our manufacturing rate nearly double as a result of our new facilities being built. Moreover, we expect to increase our production from our approximately 600 products, as well as our line of tablets, capsules, liquids, creams and sterile injections over the coming years. Our objective is to continue to grow regionally and become the CMO multinationals look to when deciding to manufacture in Southeast Asia.
