Biomox Pharmaceuticals has grown in both size and scope to become a leading contract manufacturer for the South African complementary medicines industry. 

‘Our initial intention was to establish a research and development company,’ notes Dr Roy van Brummelen, managing director of Biomox and one of the company’s four original founders. A pharmacist with a Masters in Chemical Pathology and a PhD in Biochemistry, van Brummelen and his partners spent the first two to three years developing new formulations for the complementary medicines market such as amino acid supplements. The resulting range of about 12 Biomox products was initially manufactured by third party suppliers – until the partners identified a more cost-effective and convenient alternative. ‘By manufacturing in-house,’ explains van Brummelen, ‘we could avoid the expense of development fees and significantly reduce production time.’ This move also enabled the company to produce trial batches as small as possible – comprising only 10 000 units.

Biomox purchased its first capsule machine in 1994 with a loan from the IDC, and then gradually increased its capacity over the years as an increasing number of brand owners entrusted the manufacture of their products to the company. ‘We never had to market ourselves – companies just approached Biomox of their own accord,’ notes van Brummelen, whose company today manufactures over 1000 different products for 85 local companies.

Playing a part in Biomox’s success, no doubt, are the company’s stringent manufacturing standards. It is registered with the Pharmacy Council and is regularly inspected by the MCC, which has approved Biomox for full GMP (Good Manufacturing Procedures) status.

A healthy dose

The decision early on to specialise in specific dosage formats has proven to be a good one. Biomox currently focuses on hard gel capsule filling – about 70% of output – and direct-compression tabletting. The company also has blisterpacking facilities and sachet filling facilities. ‘We’ve developed into a one-stop service for our customers,’ says van Brummelen, who now runs Biomox with the other remaining founder, Gerald Ochs. ‘They often approach us with an idea for a formula, which we then fine-tune according to their requirements before looking for suitable raw materials at competitive prices.’

The entire production process is then completed at Biomox’s facilities, including weighing, mixing, sieving, encapsulation, polishing of capsules, packaging, labelling and packing for delivery. ‘We also have an in-house laboratory for in-process quality checks as well as raw material testing,’ adds van Brummelen.

Building the future

Biomox’s current premises, purchased in February 2002, give the company the capacity to manufacture its own branded products (distributed only to export markets) and fulfil the production requirements of its existing customers. ‘As we focus more on enhancing our service levels and production efficiency, our growth rate should start to plateau,’ comments van Brummelen. With the one fully-automatic capsule machine alone, Biomox can produce over 90 000 capsules per hour. The facility’s total output capacity is an impressive 300 000+ units (tablets/capsules) per hour.

With the complementary medicines market looking healthier than most, manufacturers like Biomox should not be short of business over the next few years. But, as van Brummelen notes, the industry cannot afford to take its eye off the ball, particularly with the punishing impact of growing foreign competition. What’s more, the cost of imported raw materials is constantly on the rise, affecting the manufacturer and consumer alike. ‘It is our responsibility to find more cost-effective ways of manufacturing,’ states van Brummelen. ‘One example is to encourage companies to cultivate and process botanical ingredients locally, rather than sourcing from overseas,’ he adds, ‘which would help boost the South African economy at the same time.’