State-owned Nepal Drugs (ND), recently brought back to life after lying moribund for eight years, has prepared an aggressive plan to launch a new product every month besides expanding its manufacturing capacity.

On Monday, the medicinal drug manufacturer started producing Paracetamol, an analgesic.

The company has been making Jeevan Jal oral rehydration salts, distilled water and glycerin so far.

According to the company, it has started work to produce Albendazole, a medication used for the treatment of a variety of parasitic worm infestations.

General Manager Robhash Kusam Subedi said they expected to start producing Albendazole next month. “Moreover, we have planned to start manufacturing iron tablets in April,” said Subedi. The company has imported two compression machines from India to produce the medicine, he added.

ND produces around 2,500 packets of Jeevan Jal daily.

It makes 80,000 tablets of Paracetamol in each batch with a new batch being produced every four-five days. 

As per ND, it has planned to utilise its full production capacity of 80 million tablets annually. Demand for Paracetamol made by ND stands at 100-150 million tablets per year, according to Subedi. “Considering the high demand, we have also planned to increase production.”

Subedi said ND had been holding talks with the government for a loan to increase its production capacity. Currently, the company owes Rs1.16 billion to the government including a Rs64.8 million loan that it received to revive the production plant last year. 

According to the public enterprise, its two laboratories are now equipped with 28 advanced technology devices like HPLC, FTIR Spectroscope, UV Visible Spectroscopy, KF Apart, Incubator and Autoclave. 

ND has 110 employees. Subedi claimed that they had imported high technology equipment to produce quality products.

Established in 1972, ND is the country’s oldest pharmaceutical company manufacturing allopathic drugs.

It shut down eight years ago after failing to adopt good manufacturing practices (GMP) set by the World Health Organisation (WHO). 

The company was revived after the Cabinet approved the Industry Ministry’s proposal to bring it back to life in September 2016.

In its heyday, ND used to manufacture 120 types of allopathic drugs.

Subedi said they expected the company to break even this year after the increase in production