Saturday 20 / April / 2024
Muscat: In a big boost for Oman’s pharmaceutical industry, Opal Bio Pharma, which organised the ground-breaking ceremony of its vaccine factory recently, has identified India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iran and other countries as potential markets to export its products.
Speaking to Times of Oman’s sisterly radio channel Al Shabiba, Saad bin Musa Al-Junaibi, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Opal Bio Pharma Company, said: “The drug and vaccine factory under construction in Khazaen Economic City (KEC) will target the local market as well as the Gulf market, Republic of Yemen, in addition to East Africa, Iran, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh.”
“The importance of the factory can be understood from the fact that it is the first-of-its-kind in the Sultanate of Oman as well as in the region to produce the latest vaccines which will contribute to achieving our goal of ‘Made in Oman’ to the world,” he added.
Al Junaibi confirmed that the factory will aim to produce four different types of vaccines. It includes vaccines for colds, leukaemia and other types, all of which will be available in Oman at competitive prices or at a price much lower than the price in the foreign markets.
Shortage of medicines
Regarding the reasons for establishing the factory, Al Junaibi said that the idea of setting up a factory for medicines and vaccines came after the recent COVID-19 pandemic when the country faced shortage of medicines. This led us to fixing an appointment with the Minister of Health and presenting this idea to him.
“The idea of setting up the vaccine factory was strongly encouraged by the health minister and this was ably supported by the management of Khazaen Economic City and with their fruitful cooperation work has begun for the first phase of the factory.
He further added that the second phase of the project began with laying the foundation stone by Qais bin Mohammed Al-Youssef, Minister of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion, and Dr. Hilal bin Ali Al-Sabti, Minister of Health.
The factory will be coming up over an area of 22,000 square metres, which will include four lines for the production of vaccines and medicines. It will also be a special centre for scientific research and development. He explained that the first phase investment was approximately OMR30 million for the purchase of necessary technology and equipment, while the second phase would cost OMR60-70 million.
He pointed out that the project will also include a research and development (R&D) centre, which will provide hundreds of jobs for graduates from medical specialities in Oman.
Al-Junaibi further said that the importance of the factory location in Khazaen is one of the strategic locations because of its proximity to the ports, the airport and the main streets, in addition to the railways in the future, as well as the facilities provided by the Khazaen Economic City to investors.
