The Sunday News
Robin Muchetu, Senior Reporter
BULAWAYO-based pharmaceutical company, Datlabs has emerged as the sole manufacturer of anti-psychotic medication in the country, meeting the crucial demand for these drugs in psychiatric institutions nationwide.
The pharmaceutical company has been steadfast in supplying the essential medications to the National Pharmaceutical Company (Natpharm) as needed, and there have been calls to expand their production capacity and to explore opportunities for exporting additional products.
In a wide ranging interview with Sunday News Business, Datlabs chief executive officer, Mr Admire Nyika said while the company’s tablet production line had encountered disruptions, it has since been restored to operating at a satisfactory capacity.
Notably, the company has emerged as a leading supplier of commonly used pharmaceuticals available in local pharmacies.
“Datlabs changed management in 2019, at that point the company was in a dire situation and on the verge of closing. We have two distinct sections, we have a section that manufactures tablets, and we have a section that manufactures your oral liquids.
“The section for tablets was not in operation at that point. It had been suspended by the Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe, the local regulatory authority, due to non-compliance issues. So the company was not even allowed to manufacture tablets at that point,” said Mr Nyika.
He said the company now manufactures and supplies special anti-psychotic drugs to Natpharm as and when there is a tender.
“We supply these special anti-psychotic drugs to Natpharm and we also supply the retail sector because most of our clients (from psychiatric institutions) end up purchasing from retail outlets after leaving institutions. Those drugs, we are actively manufacturing,” said Mr Nyika.
Zimbabwe has two major psychiatric institutions, Ingutsheni Psychiatric Hospital in Bulawayo and Ngomahuru in Masvingo.
The tablets plant that had previously been suspended by the company but after technical issues were rectified, is now running.
“Most of your popular brands like panado, ibuprofen (pain killers), metronidazole and cotrimoxazole (antibiotics) as well as chlorpromazine are manufactured at Datlabs. Chlorpromazine is a very special category of products mainly meant for people with mental challenges and we are the only producers of that drug in the country at the moment,” said Mr Nyika.
Since the last quarter of 2023, Mr Nyika said the company has been retooling.
“It’s a continuous process, where we are buying new equipment for the factory, new equipment for the laboratory, more or less to improve the level of compliance, but also to improve our efficiency.
“You will find this is a highly regulated environment at some point, even now, we still send some of our raw materials to be tested in South Africa because there’s no local capacity to do so, or the equipment is expensive. So it has been a process,” he said.
Asked on the prospects of manufacturing Antiretroviral for persons with HIV, the CEO said Datlabs does represent a company in India that brings products to Zimbabwe.
“We do not manufacture ARVs, but again it all boils down to the Government, if there is that local advantage of producing ARVs we will definitely partner with them and produce locally like what other countries are doing,” he said.
Manufacturing of ARVs locally will see a price reduction in the life-prolonging drugs and the guaranteed availability of the drugs instead of importing them.
He also said exporting essential drugs is an avenue for expanding revenue.
Mr Nyika added that partnering companies from India that manufacture drugs is an option, as they can have drugs manufactured locally and get royalties.
The pharmaceutical giant however said they have a fairly old product basket owing to the challenges faced earlier and had not grown its product portfolio.
“One of the things we are focusing on now, is growing our product portfolio list and being able to produce products that are meeting the current non-communicable diseases burden, we need a presence in the hypertension area, diabetes and presence in more relevant antibiotics over and above the old ones we have,” he said. — @NyembeziMu
