ภาษาไทยThai energy firm investing in cancer meds and alternative proteins
While it is rare to associate fossil-fuel firms with good health, Innobic, the life-science subsidiary of Thai energy conglomerate PTT, said that it will invest $30 million this year to build facilities to produce cancer medications and plant-based proteins.
“Innobic is working with the Government Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO) to design and build a pharmaceutical manufacturing facility specializing in cancer medicines and named GPO Oncology with an investment of $75 million,” said Buranin Rattanasombat, PTT’s Senior Executive Vice-President and Chairman of Innobic.
Scheduled to open in 2027, the facility will be located in Rayong province in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC), Thailand’s advanced development zone just a stone’s throw from Bangkok. The EEC is home to 12 next-generation industries that are key to the government’s Thailand 4.0 development strategy. One of those industries is the medical and wellness industry.
Buranin added that Innobic will spend part of the $30 million on the construction of a plant-based protein production facility in Ayutthaya province, about an hour’s drive north of Bangkok.
The plant, which is slated to open in the middle of next year, will be a part of Innobic’s joint venture with Nove Foods, a subsidiary of SET-listed NR Instant Produce, a producer of vegetarian and plant-based food. The joint venture is named NRPT and intends to make what Innobic calls “future food.”
The firm has an ambition of becoming “the Foxconn of alternative proteins.” Its goal is to become the go-to supplier of alternative proteins and other ingredients used by plant-based food manufacturers.
Buranin added that Innobic plans to launch two new products in the fields of medical nutrition and food supplements to serve the ageing market. He said that aging societies are driving demand for food that can restore and strengthen health.
Photo courtesy of https://innobicasia.com/our-business/overview