Mega Lifesciences Plc, a Thai pharmaceutical company, has built a new factory in Australia to supply its medicines and food supplements to 30 countries.

Chief executive Vivek Dhawan said sales growth in Thailand’s pharmaceutical industry remains high, 30% year-on-year in the first half despite the economic slowdown and beating 20% growth in some markets.

“We see a bright outlook for the pharmaceutical business in Thailand and 29 other markets. These include developing countries such as Azerbaijan, India, Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam, all of which have especially high demand for prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) medicines,” he said.

To serve these markets, the new 200-million-baht Australian factory raises the company’s overall annual production capacity to 650 tonnes of powders, 13 million hard-gel capsules and 155 million tablets.

Mega Lifesciences has two other plants, in Thailand and Australia.

The Australian pharmaceuticals market is strictly regulated, making the country a centre of excellence for the development of powders, tablets and chewable pills.

Mega Lifesciences earmarks 1.5% to 2% of its revenue for product development.

At present, it has 627 active prescriptions, with another 138 products in the pipeline _ 59 under development and 79 undergoing registration.

Its revenue comes from three areas _ Mega We Care, its own brand, contributing 46% of revenue; Maxxcare, an international distribution operation for Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam, also contributing 46%; and the rest from original-equipment manufacturing for other pharmaceutical brands.

Mr Dhawan said his company will try to build stronger brand awareness for Mega We Care OTC drugs and food supplements.Food supplement sales are rapidly growing in Thailand, particularly of vitamins C and B and fish oil. This trend is expected to continue rising as Thailand becomes an ageing society.

Mega Lifesciences will also form partnerships with 10,000 independent drug stores and chains.

It expects 20% revenue growth to US$200 million this year.