United Laboratories Incorporated or more commonly known as UNILAB is the leading manufacturer and distributor of pharmaceuticals and healthcare products in the Philippines. There are more than 350 prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) brands manufactured and distributed by the company. UNILAB supports more than 6,000 customers in the Philippines including the country’s largest pharmacy chains. It also provides support to a growing number of distribution partners in more than 20 countries in SouthEast Asia and the Asia Pacific region including China, Indonesia, Vietnam, etc.
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After introducing the rise of the well-known company, Mr. Santos, the facilities were next introduced. Generally, the facilities are strategically located in the Philippines as has been mentioned. Located in Binan City are Amherst Solids, Liquids, and Delta Laboratories Inc. Positioned in Sta Rosa city, Laguna area are Amherst Parenterals Inc. and Amherst Nutraceuticals Inc. (Nutritionals). While two are in Mandaluyong city which are UNILAB Manufacturing (Solid big batch products) and Asian Antibiotics Inc. (Penicillin, Cephalosporin, and Steroid products). The UNILAB Manufacturing is 30,000 square meter in total. Lastly, the Belmont Softgel Pharma Corp (Softgel) in Floridablanca, Pampanga. These manufacturing networks produce specific pills for each laboratory. These facilities are GMP-certified by the European Union and compliant to the Pharmaceutical Inspection Cooperation Scheme or PIC/S.
The overall head of the manufacturing network who was mentioned was Engr. Limuel Z. Razo who is also the Corporate Vice President. He mandates the eight laboratories that are under the manufacturing network. In China, there are Shanghai United cell and Biotechnology Co. ltd. In Indonesia, there are PT Medifarma Laboratories Inc., PT Darya Varia Laboratoria TBK and PT Pradja Pharin. In Thailand, there is the Great Eastern Drug Co. LTD. While United Pharma, Inc is located in Vietnam. In addition, there are also networks of alliances in the US, Europe, India and Japan. Lastly, Philippines holds the most laboratories. It has United laboratories, Inc., Asian Antibiotics, Inc., Amherst Laboratories Inc., Amherst Parenterals Inc., and Philippines Health Food Manufacturing, Inc.
The UNILAB Manufacturing Plant manufactures 57 products. Mr. Santos highlighted the top 10 products made by UNILAB. These are the most demanded pills by the market and consumers. These are: Enervon, Immunpro, Bioflu, Ceelin Plus Chew, Ceelin Chew, UHP Ceetab, Revicon Forte, Kremil-S(REF), Solmux, and RM Ascorbic Acid. Most of the students are familiar with the pills mentioned in the top 10. Many raised their hands when Sir Santos asked who among us are familiar or have consumed any of the mentioned products. This proves that it is indeed a well-known pill that different people from different places recognize the pills.
It is established that Unilab is number one in cardiovascular, vitamins, gastrointestinal, ob-gyne, anti-infectives, somatics and cough-cold in terms of manufacturing pills for these. They are number two in endo metabolics, anti-allergy, gente- urinary- nephro, anti-asthma, and cosmetics. They produce over-the-counter healthcare in pedia and adults (vitamins and sickness), and also personal healthcare.
Therapeutic Categories
Therapeutic Categories
Anti-Allergy
Anti-Asthma-COPD
Antifibrinolytics
Anti-Infectives
Anti-TB
Cardiovascular
Central Nervous System
Cosmetics
Cough-Cold
Dermatologicals
Dietetics
Endometabolics
Eye-Ear
Gastrointestinal
Genito-Urinary-Nephro
Hospital Solutions
Medical Device
OB-Gyne
Oncology
Oral Care
Somatics
Vitamins
Pre-Production
Pre-Production
The product of UNILAB undergoes a certain flow diagram. First it goes through several clinical studies and trials for regulatory/ market approval. Then it will then be subjected to post-market, passive and active surveillance.
Production
Production
As the virtual plant tour goes on, Mr. Santos thoroughly discussed the manufacturing process of their product which consists of the following: dispensing, granulation, tableting/encapsulation, coating, and lastly, packaging. The first process is dispensing wherein the raw materials are weighed and measured in a controlled environment. Next in line will be granulation in which the particles are converted into aggregates called granules by creating bonds between them. This process is done to improve the flow by forming spherical particles in order to enhance the dissolution rate of fully soluble drugs. For the tableting, the powder is pressed inside a die by two punches into required size and shape. UNILAB has three types of machines for tableting which are BB3B, Cadmach, and Manesty. Another one is encapsulation using the equipment BOSCH 701 and BOSCH 14000, this step is done to mask the odor and taste of unpleasant drugs. Next process is coating, it is to protect the product in the environment wherein it is done with use of TCS 350 for film coating and AC 350 for sugar coating. Last procedure in the manufacturing process is packaging which consists of three types of packaging, these are the blister packaging, strip/flex packaging and bottle packaging with the use of Uhlmann UPS-3, CRB and CAM Cartoning machines, respectively.
Post-Production
Post-Production
After the manufacturing procedure is finished, the product is examined by a series of tests in the chemistry laboratory before being distributed in the market. These tests are as follows:
Dissolution tester
Disintegration tester
HPLC
Glass chromatography
COC analyzer for water analysis
Uv vis spectrophotometer
FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy)
Atomic absorption spectrophotometer
Polarimeter
Refractometer
If the pills pass the safety and quality tests, it is then delivered to be packed and distributed to different outlets.
Unilab also has UL HealthSERVICES Inc. that provides different kinds of services to the people. RelianceUnited is composed of different health services that are: HealthFirst Clinic, Reliance Care, flexicare, Omni Quest Inc., the diabetes store, active one, and Reliance Healthcare Services.
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