GSK dedicates Albendazole facility for WHO programme

As part of its CSR (Common Social Responsibility) activities, the pharma major GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has dedicated its new Albendazole manufacturing unit in its existing Nashik facility to the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) global programme to eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis (LF).

This new facility in Nashik, which has been built with an investment of Rs. 1.5 crore, will manufacture 300 million tablets of Albendazole- an anti-parasitic drug.

The technology for this plant was transferred from Cape Town and production was started in August 2009. The first consignment of 15 million albendazole tablets was supplied to WHO in December 2009. This year (in 2010), Nashik facility is expected to deliver 300 million tablets.

“The company has launched Lymphatic Filariasis (LF) eradication programme in 48 countries in close partnership with the governments of countries where the disease is endemic, the World Health Orgtanisation and over 40 partner organizations. Since the programme began in 2000, more than 1.4 billion treatments have been given to over 500 million people in 48 of the 83 countires with endemic LF,” said Andrew Witty, CEO gsk, at a press conference here.