Marking a significant milestone, Sri Lanka’s first Respiratory Care Research and Manufacturing facility, Lina Manufacturing, celebrated its 10^th anniversary today. The facility produces a large variety of respiratory care products for the Government sector and private sector. The factory , which was in Borupana, Ratmalana, commenced its commercial production on 01 April 2011.

With the collaboration of the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the Moratuwa University, the researchers at Lina invented ‘Ventohaler’, a DPI device along with sophisticated software to predict the performance of the inhaler. The product is different from what is available in the market, giving more benefits to the patient.

The ‘Ventohaler’ was designed so that airflow is created through the sides, which results in a cyclonic movement within the inhaler when the patient inhales. This allows the patient to take most of the dose, resulting in a substantial deposit of the medicine in the lungs.

Furthermore, the company researched how the chemical ingredients could be mixed to give patients more effective relief once the chemical compound reaches the lower lungs. Lina Manufacturing used a 3D Mixer with a special formula to achieve this feat. The unique compound mix and the ‘Ventohaler’ received the Presidential Award in 2010 and 2011.

Today, Lina Manufacturing continues to invest significantly in research and development (R&D) to introduce more products. It has also invested in the latest European tablet production lines from IMA Italy, a world leader in pharmaceutical automation technologies. They have also developed molecules that they supply significantly to the Public Sector through the Ministry of Health. Apart from the award-winning Ventohaler inhalers, the company manufactures a range of respiratory products, including Beclovent, Flutivent, Salbuvent, Prazolin and Winterpan. The state-of-the-art factory in Kadawatha, which has a qualified and experienced staff, is a GMP and ISO 9001 certified manufacturing facility.

“Lina Manufacturing is extremely proud to celebrate this momentous milestone. We have been able to take a medical device innovation from a concept to commercialisation, and today, with the hard work and dedication of our team, Lina has come a long way to become Sri Lanka’s leading respiratory care products manufacturer. As we enter the next decade of growth and innovation of our journey, Lina Manufacturing looks to reflect on what we have achieved and craft an ambitious roadmap to become a key player in the region and improve patients’ quality of life through our products. We also aim to improve our cutting-edge manufacturing capabilities further, in line with the Government’s objectives, which seeks to reduce the country’s reliance on pharmaceutical imports, while creating a robust platform to provide more skilled employment opportunities for the local talent pool”, commented Lina Manufacturing Chief Executive Officer Rohan Wettasinghe.

In December 2020, Sunshine Holdings announced its healthcare business’s strategic merger consisting of Sunshine Healthcare Lanka and Healthguard Pharmacy with Akbar Pharmaceuticals, Lina Manufacturing and Lina Spiro—the business units of Akbar Healthcare. The merger’s finalisation in January 2020 elevated Sunshine Healthcare as Sri Lanka’s first fully integrated healthcare company, starting from manufacturing up to retailing healthcare products, including last-mile distribution across the country for all healthcare products. The company now operates in all five segments of the healthcare supply chain—research and development (R&D), manufacturing, importation, distribution and retail. Recently, Sunshine Healthcare Lanka commenced operations of Lina Spiro (Pvt) Ltd as Sri Lanka’s first Metered-Dose Inhaler (MDI) manufacturing plant.

This merger will also enhance the pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity in the country, with both leading business groups working together to invest in this critical nation-building sector. By combining their strengths, the merged healthcare business will be able to build further manufacturing capacity as well as develop and scale up production of existing and new molecules, work with regional pharma companies to drive tech transfers and overall increase the local production of medicines as envisaged by His Excellency the President of Sri Lanka’s Vision ‘Vistas of Prosperity and Splendour’.