The Swiss pharmaceutical company Labatec inaugurated its first factory in Portugal, in the presence of the Secretary of State for Internationalization, Eurico Brilhante Dias, the Swiss Ambassador to Portugal, André Regli, the Vice-President of the Board of Directors of Infarmed, Antonio Faria Vaz, and the Mayor of Sintra, Basílio Horta.
The project started in January 2018 and, three years later, after an investment of 15 million euros and the hiring of 40 full-time Portuguese employees, Labatec is now officially starting the production of medicines in Portugal, more precisely in Sintra, Mem Martins.
All pharmaceutical production is destined for export markets in Switzerland, the Middle East, and North Africa.
Labatec
Labatec is a pharmaceutical company headquartered in Switzerland, with over 60 years of experience supplying products to 12 countries, including Switzerland, the Middle East, and Africa, with more than 70 products and 280 references in its current portfolio.
In 2008, Labatec was acquired by Samih Darwzah (1930-2015), founder of Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC, a global pharmaceutical company listed on the London Stock Exchange and operating in more than 31 countries, including Portugal.
“ One of Labatec’s main objectives is to produce for the European market and export markets, and Portugal is geographically very well positioned for this purpose. We are here to stay and to invest for the long term, so, in the next three to five years, we plan to hire 100 new employees to join Labatec’s staff in Portugal ,” says Faisal Darwazeh, CEO of Labatec.
Labatec is dedicated to the production and distribution of medicines for various areas, such as muscle and pain, women's health, analgesics, ophthalmology and anti-TB, including injectable and oral medications for hospital use.
Faisal Darwazeh, CEO of Labatec
Factory
Labatec's new factory in Sintra will be responsible for producing oral medications for the treatment of diseases related to the musculoskeletal system, such as multiple sclerosis, muscle contractures, and other muscular disorders.
With approximately four thousand square meters of space, including offices, production, packaging, laboratories and warehouse, the new Labatec manufacturing unit was equipped with state-of-the-art technology and designed following the latest and highest European standards of Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP).
Designed with the future in mind, this new factory has an initial production capacity of 250 million tablets, with the possibility of quickly expanding its production to two billion tablets per year at its current maximum capacity.
“ The idea is to offer this extra manufacturing capacity to other European pharmaceutical companies looking to manufacture their products from Portugal ,” explains the CEO. “ In 1989, we opened the Hikma pharmaceutical company in Sintra, so we already have a long history of investment in Portugal within our family. The main attraction of Portugal at the time, and still today, is its people, the highly qualified workforce that exists in Portugal ,” he adds.
