The State Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Corporation (SPMC) was establish in the year 1987 based on a grant aid received from the Japanese government through JICA (Japan International Corporation Agency) under Corporation Act No: 49 of 1957, with commitment to manufacture quality, effective and safe medicinal drugs for poor people of Sri Lanka.

The main functions of SPMC as mandated by the Industrial Corporation Act No 49 are:

1. Manufacturing, processing, stocking, packing and re packing of drugs
2. Provision of technical assistance for the manufacture and processing of drugs
3. Pharmacological and pharmaceutical research and the standardization of drugs
4. Marketing of Pharmaceuticals.

The pharmaceuticals manufacturing facility of the SPMC is equipped with Japanese & German Machines installed in the year 1987 whose lifetime is 24 Years. The Manufacturing facility has an ultraclean atmosphere and it strictly adheres to the requirements of the current Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) laid down by the World Health Organization (WHO). All SPMC products manufactured according to the United States Pharmacopoeia (USP) and British Pharmacopoeia (BP) standards.

In 2009, State Pharmaceuticals Manufacturing Corporation completed 22 years of commercial production of essential Medicinal Drugs for the Health care of the Sri Lanka population. The SPMC facility was installed with a capacity of 550 million tablets/capsules per year based on 08 working hours per day. Presently SPMC produces about 1035 Mn. a year by working two (2) eight (8) hour shifts. SPMC product range consists of 59 tablets, capsules and oral suspension.

This project will benefit the entire population of Sri Lanka as the pharmaceuticals manufactured by SPMC are distributed either through governed owned State Pharmaceuticals Corporation – SPC, which has outlets functioning throughout the entire Sri Lanka or directly by the State Pharmaceuticals Manufacturing Corporation – SPMC through direct and indirect dealers recognized by the government over the Island. The main customer of Pharmaceuticals manufactured by SPMC is the Government of Sri Lanka who uses these products in their National, Provincial and Rural hospitals for the provision of health care of the citizens of Sri Lanka. Hence, the project is covering the entire 20 Mn population of the country. SPMC is the only State Sector Corporation engaged in manufacturing pharmaceuticals in Sri Lanka. The SPMC products are well accepted and recognized by the Doctors, pharmacists and other professionals in the health sector. Our reputation and the image we built up, as a manufacturer of quality pharmaceuticals products, is the most effective force behind our success. Therefore, we need not to make an extra effort to market our products and in these circumstances, this will be the best opportunity to enhance the production.

 Out of 59 items presently manufactured by the SPMC, 20 items supplied to the Medical Supplies Division (MSD) of the Health Ministry for the purpose of distribution to the Government Hospitals in Sri Lanka. The annual requirement of the said items for the MSD is around 1862 Mn. tablets / capsules and the SPMC is not in a position to supply these requirements due to insufficient capacity. We have developed several other essential items for MSD and we are unable to go in to production due to insufficient capacities. These facts reveal that annual demand of our products may come to more than 4000 Mn. tablets / capsules.

The Machines available with SPMC are nearly 22 years old, owing to this reason maintenance cost of the machine has gone up mainly due to the cost of the spares. Most of the machines are Japanese & German origin with 24 years of lifetime and are obsolete. Another obstacle is that, obtaining spares has become a difficult and costly process because these are special spares, which can be obtain only from the manufacturer, and those would be manufactured exclusively on orders.

This situation cannot be solve unless we increased the rate of production so that cost can be absorbed comparatively and cost of production per tablet will be reduced. For this purpose, it is propose to replace existing Tabletting & Capsule filling machines by high-speed machines, so that the production can significantly increased. Based on the above reasons it is propose to expand the capacity of the SPMC manufacturing facility as an add-on project in order to provide better healthcare to the public mentioned in the government policy document – “Mahinda Chinthana”.

Hence, we planned to replacing of machines in our factory with high capacity machines in two stages within a period of 2 years without disturbing to the existing production, as we have to supply Pharmaceuticals for distribution to Government Hospitals. Apart from the present operation, there is a big demand for Syrup and Saline too. This is another area; we are looking at later stage, after completing the proposed expansion.

To implement the rehabilitation and expansion of Production Capacity of SPMC, we are looking for proposals from Financier/Funding Organization, who can provide us with US $ 10.00 Mn. with a grace period and payback within 10 Years. More details can be provide on request.