Katinko maker eyes two factories at Tarlac ecozone

The maker of popular oil liniment and ointment brand Katinko will build two more factories within the Victoria Industrial Park in Tarlac, effectively tripling its output capacity in the economic hub with an estimated investment of P400 million.

Melissa Yap, CEO of Greenstone Pharmaceutical HK Inc., which is the manufacturer of the Katinko products in the Philippines, said they expect to complete the twin facilities in a year or two.

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“We are also expanding our product lines,” Yap said on the sidelines of the signing of the registration contract for the park at the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) office in Pasay.

Yap said that they already have a 2,000-square meter facility operating inside the economic zone.

Three other facilities are in operation in the province Cavite, she added.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed the proclamation of the Victoria Industrial Park as an ecozone last July 4.

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Peza is developing and grooming the 30-hectare industrial haven as the country’s first pharmaceutical economic zone.

“The idea is to develop the supply chain, provide for the best ecosystem because in the end, if we see all these elements present in one economic zone, that will surely bring down the cost of medicine,” Peza director general Tereso Panga said.

Medicines

Panga had earlier highlighted the importance of developing the Philippines’s pharmaceutical sector given the country’s dependence on imports.“We import more than 75 percent of our medicines from abroad. And because of that, it goes through a layer of trading companies selling the medicines to outlets, the chains, and to the hospital,” Panga said.

“So imagine if we’re able directly with these producers so we can expect a much (lower price) of medicines,” he added.

To date, Peza has at least 27 registered companies engaged in pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturing.

These include prominent players such as Terumo (Philippines) Corp., Arkray Industry Inc., Royale Life Pharma Inc., JMS Healthcare PHL Inc., Philipcare Medical Manufacturing Inc., Kaneko Medical Philippine Inc., and Merck Business Solutions Asia Inc.