Pharmax was set up to help the UAE become more independent from imported drugs and promote the local production of generic pharmaceuticals.
With a recent requirement of mandatory health insurance for all residents, the pharmaceutical and healthcare market in the UAE is growing at a rapid pace.
The UAE Government is now strongly supporting local manufacturers to produce locally and provide the growing market with affordable equivalent medications.
The custom-built factory is equipped with the latest technology, meeting European, UAE and GMP standards.
The facility received its GMP license in March 2018 and is now producing with an annual capacity of over 200 million tablet and capsule dosage forms.
Pharmax ordered a number of different machines required for the Oral Solid Dosage (OSD) formulation plant.
The Syntegon Technology subsidiary Huettlin supplied a granulation line consisting of a Pilotmix high-shear granulator and a Pilotlab unit for optional coating in the fluid bed with a capacity range of between 15 and 60 kilograms for water-based and solvent products.
The tablets are pressed on a TPR 200, which is designed for small to medium batches. The machine can achieve an output of more than 230,000 tablets per hour. An XL Coater Lab 02 is used for tablet coating.
Further equipment includes a capsule filling and closing machine GKF 702, featuring a capsule deduster with integrated metal detector.
The GKF 702 can process between 3,000 and 42,000 capsules per hour and is suited for research and development as well as in production scale operations. With the technologies from Syntegon Technology, Pharmax covers a large part of the OSD development and production process.
Madhukar Tanna, chief executive of Pharmax, said: “When we started planning our new production, highest quality and technical support were key for us.
“Since a number of employees, including myself already had experience with Syntegon Technology, we knew about their unrivalled quality and technical support. This made the decision very easy for us.”