MINISTER FOR Finance, Domestic Manufacturing and Government Procurement, Courtney Houssos, visited the Phebra pharmaceutical plant at Lane Cove West last week, where she inspected a range of its locally developed and manufactured women’s health and other critical medicines.
The visit follows the Minister’s introduction of the Local Jobs First Bill, which prioritises local businesses with a 30 per cent tender weighting for NSW Government contracts.
Phebra CEO Andre Vlok welcomed the NSW Government’s renewed commitment to better support local manufacturers.
“We commend the Government for backing NSW businesses,” Mr Vlok said.
“This new policy recognises the important contribution that Australian manufacturers like Phebra make to the NSW economy and finally, levels the playing field for local suppliers.”
Phebra is continuing its investment into sovereign capability, with the installation of new machinery which will increase production capacity and outputs across the sterile-injectables plant through advanced manufacturing technology.
During her visit, Minister Houssos met with Phebra staff and inspected a range of medicines locally developed and manufactured.
“Australia cannot afford to rely entirely on overseas supply for its critical medicines,” Mr Vlok said.
“That’s why continuing to invest in local manufacturing capability is so important, particularly for critical and essential medicines used every day by healthcare providers for the benefit of Australian patients.
“We’re proud that Phebra demonstrates how local manufacturing capability can deliver both economic and healthcare benefits through the development and production of essential and critical medicines, including medicines that support women’s health.
“It was great to welcome Minister Houssos to the Phebra facility and show the work our team is doing in developing and manufacturing a pipeline of medicines for local and overseas markets.”
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