GPO - The Goverment Phamaceutical Organization

12/07/2023

GPO will also participate in CPHI Southeast Asia for 3 days, July 12–14, 2023. We highly appreciate you visiting GPO’s booth at booth number E08. Let's share your contents with GPO using the hashtag . We look forward to seeing you at the exhibition.

24/08/2022

Public health minister Anutin accompanied Malaysian health minister visit GPO’s cannabis plantation site for comprehensive medical uses of cannabis

August 23, GPO, Thanyaburi district, Pathum Thani: Deputy prime minister and public health minister Anutin Charnvirakul was accompanied by his counterpart Malaysian health minister to visit cannabis plantation site at the Government Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO)’s drug-making plant in Pathum Thani province, sharing information on plantation, active ingredient extraction, cannabis use for medical purpose and registration procedure, together with advising three factors to make policy achieve.

Public health minister Auntin who was packed with the ministry’s permanent secretary Dr Kiattiphum Wongrajit, GPO’s director Dr Witoon Danwibul and other senior officials welcomed Malaysian public health minister Khairy Jamaluddin ABU BAKAR at the Cannabis plantation site of GPO’s drug-making plant in Pathum Thani province.
Mr Anutin said that Malaysia has declared a policy of cannabis for medical treatment use and ,during the WHO’s World Health Assembly in May this year, it expressed its intention to share and learn information from the Thai side.

Cannabis use for medical treatment is the country’s wisdom for over 300 years by using its cannabis’s parts for both food ingredients and medicine before it was put into the narcotic list. Fortunately, the ministry has met with a success to withdraw the cannabis plant from the narcotic list, except its THC concentration over 0.2% of total weight. With the success, there are three factors of achievement, namely a strong support from the government, academic and medical knowledge to affirm its benefits of medical treatment and effective communication to the public.

He explained that the site visit has covered the cannabis plantation procedure under the Department of Thai Traditional and Alternative Medicine, registration procedure under the Thai Food and Drug Administration, active ingredient extraction under the Department of Medical Sciences, and cannabis medical product use under the Department of Medical Services. The cannabis has also already registered as the national drug list for herb so patients under the health security system are able to access medical treatment with cannabis use.

If, he added, Malaysia can move forward for implementing cannabis policy of medical treatment, further mutual cannabis research and development for medical purpose is expected to happen.
Regarding GPO’s cannabis development, it successfully developed cannabis’s active ingredients for sublingual drops with four formulas, which is used for patients under the Department of Medical Services’ guidelines. They are intensive THC formula, 1:1 ratio between THC and CBD, THC FORTE with THC 81mg/ml for cancer patients with last stage of cancer disease, or patients suffering from severe vomit from chemotherapy treatment and finally the formula with intensive CBD for epilepsy in children.
Those have been already applied to cannabis clinics in 12 public health constituencies nationwide, which are later expanded into both state-owned and public hospitals. Moreover, the Department of Medical Services and other hospitals are going to have further cannabis use study in other diseases such as Parkinson’s disease and Multiple Sclerosis-MS. Latest, those four formulas are already under the national drug list for herb.

Regarding cannabis plantation, GPO has planned to expand its scale of 100 square metre indoor garden in the current site to a new site in Chonburi’s Nong Yai district under a guidance of Green House plantation, studying a proper environment to plant the herb with high level of its active ingredients for medical grade.
It has also planned to scale up the indoor plantation site in Pathum Thani to 1,000 square metre, which the plantation has scheduled for next year with 5,000 cannabis trees per year and 1,000 kilogramme for bud and flower yield per year.

Besides, GPO has joined hands with 12 local enterprises and entrepreneurs for getting cannabis, which is planted and harvested under the GPO’s requirements. Moreover, it has been working closely with the Royal Project Foundation and High Land Research and Development Institute (Public Organization) for producing h**p seed oil as a key ingredient for other products to support and increase income to remote communities. Currently, two products are available in the market, which is h**p tea and SIBANNAC H**p Seed Oil Bedtime Lip Care to moisturize the lips.

https://pr.moph.go.th/?url=pr/detail/2/04/177858/

เว็บไซต์สำนักสารนิเทศ สำนักงานปลัดกระทรวงสาธารณสุข กระทรวงสาธารณสุข

05/08/2022

The Government Pharmaceutical Organization attended a ceremony to provide assistance to Sri Lanka to help mitigate the impact of the economic crisis at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

On August 3, 2022, Ms.Suwimol Woragasemsuk, Director of Marketing and Sales Department, representing the Government Pharmaceutical Organization attended the aid ceremony for Sri Lanka to help mitigate the impact of the economic crisis at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Government Pharmaceutical Organization has donated 3 essential medicines totaling 234,000 baht through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. To give to the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Thailand to help alleviate the suffering of the people of Sri Lanka. As friendly country who has always had a good relationship with Thailand.

05/08/2022

The Government Pharmaceutical Organization organizes activities to enhance knowledge on health care and rational use of medicines for the elderly in the 20 rai land-reform community, Bueng Nam Rak Subdistrict, Thanyaburi District, Pathum Thani Province.

On August 2, 2022, the Government Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO) by the Corporate Development Division for Sustainability, organized a GPO activity to build community relations year 2022 at the 20 rai land-reform community, Bueng Nam Rak Subdistrict, Thanyaburi District, Pathum Thani Province, led by Dr. Mukdavan Prakobvaitayakit, Ph.D, Deputy Managing Director of the Government Pharmaceutical Organization presided over the opening ceremony.
Which such project, the Government Pharmaceutical Organization organizes activities every year. It is a cooperation between the Government Pharmaceutical Organization and the local health authorities, jointly held to enhance the knowledge of health care and rational use of medicines for the elderly people in the community area. It also creates a good relationship with the local health departments in caring for the people in the area around the agency, the Government Pharmaceutical Organization, Thanyaburi District, aiming for the elderly people in the area be healthy as well as having a good quality of life.

21/08/2021

GPO starts a clinical trial phase 2 of a COVID-19 vaccine: After a successful clinical trial phase 1

Dr. Withoon Danwiboon, managing director, announces that GPO’s NDV-HXP-S COVID-19 vaccine candidate has entered phase 2 clinical study at the Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University on 16th August 2021. The study is recruiting 250 volunteers aged 18–75 years old, who were not immunized with COVID-19 vaccine before and had not been infected with COVID-19.

As a new 2019 coronavirus strain emerged, GPO switched its well-established egg-based vaccine production platform to manufacture a COVID-19 vaccine at industrial scale. This NDV-HXP-S vaccine project was initiated by the collaboration of PATH,Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS), University of Texas at Austin (UTA) in the United States and three vaccine manufacturers in Brazil, Vietnam and Thaliand. The innovative vaccine candidate works by using inactivated Newcastle disease virus (NDV) expressing HexaPro spike, the stabilized spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, to induce the body to build protective defenses against COVID-19. The NDV-based vaccine technology was developed at ISMMS. HexaPro was developed at UTA, by the same team that developed an earlier spike protein that is the basis of at least three COVID-19 vaccines currently being administered around the world. The vaccine seed virus is provided to GPO by ISMMS for production at the vaccine manufacturing plant in Saraburi Province. The NDV-HXP-S COVID-19 vaccine candidate is produced using
egg-based technology, similar to that employed to produce influenza vaccines.

The vaccine was successfully manufactured in Thailand and entered into clinical trial phase 1 in March 2021. When a phase 2 clinical trial is accomplished, a suitable formulation will be selected for phase 3 clinical trial and distributed to the market after registration for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) by Thai Food and Drug Administration. The potential of production is 20-30 million doses a year and can be expanded in the future.

According to Dr. Withoon, when the clinical trial phase 3 is completed and gets the EUA, 10-15 million Thai people will be vaccinated to protect against COVID-19 virus and the production is able to expand in the future. Hereby, it has the potential to reduce the cost of imported vaccines and to support vaccine sustainability. This achievement can bring back the confidence of people’s lives and it will help the recovery of the Thai

02/06/2021

WHO validates Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use and issues interim policy recommendations
Tuesday, 1 June 2021

24/05/2021

Invitation to see :
*** Virtual Factory Tour of Thailand Government Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO)
*** ISPE Facility of the Year Winner in the Category of Social Impact -GPO Saraburi Vaccine Plant

***2021 ISPE MALAYSIA VACCINES CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION 24 - 25 May 2021 Time Thailand 10.50 - 11.50 AM

07/05/2021

Thailand’s home-grown NDV-HXP-S COVID-19 vaccine and the ongoing human trials.

Dr. Somchaiya Surichan, the Director of Biologicals Research Group, the Government Pharmaceutical Organization gave an interview to the Thailand Today from NBT World regarding the Thailand’s home-grown NDV-HXP-S COVID-19 vaccine and the ongoing human trials. Summary of the interview is as follows;

Since an outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19) last year, the research and development of COVID-19 vaccine has begun in many countries including Thailand. The Government Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO) works in cooperation with PATH allowing us to get access to the seed virus, the NDV-HXP-S virus, developed by Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and the University of Texas at Austin. This NDV-HXP-S is an inactivated COVID-19 which contains genetically modified Newcastle disease virus (NDV) for expressing the spike protein of coronavirus. Also, this developed virus can be grown in eggs which is similar to the influenza vaccine. From this advantage, we can adopt our egg-based influenza vaccine production technology to produce the NDV-HXP-S COVID-19 vaccine. With our facilities, resources together with our knowledge, these lead us to a fast development for NDV-HXP-S COVID-19 vaccine production. The production of GPO NDV-HXP-S COVID-19 vaccine is under the regulations of U.S. FDA, WHO, European Pharmacopoeia as well as Thai FDA.

In the interview, Dr. Somchaiya also speaks about the progress of the research and development of GPO NDV-HXP-S COVID-19 Vaccine. She stated that the safety and efficacy of our developed vaccine, NDV-HXP-S COVID-19 Vaccine, were proven in preclinical study which revealed that the COVID-19 vaccine is safe and protective. These information allowed us to enter the clinical trial under an authorization of Thai FDA. With the cooperation of Vaccine Trial Centre (VTC), faculty of tropical medicine, Mahidol University, we have started the clinical trial phase I in mid of March 2021 with a total number of 210 volunteers. The clinical trial phase II is expected to start in August this year before moving to phase III as well as applying for COVID-19 vaccine licensing and approval from Thai FDA. From our facilities, we estimate that 25-30 million doses can be produced per year.

Dr. Somchaiya also continues that GPO also provides grants to 2 research teams in the universities in Thailand for the COVID-19 vaccine research and development. These include the faculty of medicine, Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University and the faculty of pharmaceutical sciences, Chulalongkorn University. Although there are many vaccine developers in Thailand that have been working on the development of COVID-19 vaccines, we are all aim to create a sustainability and vaccine national security and to be self-reliant.



https://youtu.be/yk0KlsgRQYk

Today we speak to the Government Pharmaceutical Organization’s, Director of Biologicals Research Group, Dr. Somchaiya Surichan, on Thailand’s home-grown NDV-...

29/04/2021

FAQ : The growth and sale to GPO of Cannabis flos by community enterprises

29/04/2021

The Development of Thailand’s Home-Grown NDV-HXP-S COVID-19 Vaccine

NBT World : Thailand today


https://youtu.be/yk0KlsgRQYk

Today we speak to the Government Pharmaceutical Organization’s, Director of Biologicals Research Group, Dr. Somchaiya Surichan, on Thailand’s home-grown NDV-...

28/04/2021

2 million tablets of FAVIPIRAVIR from Japan for treatment of COVID 19 patients has arrived Thailand last night.

On April 26, 2021 at 1:00 AM, 2 million tablets of Favipiravir were delivered from Narita Airport, Japan via NH 8545 flight to Thailand already and will immediately be dispatched by the Government Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO) to network medical facilities nationwide in accordance with the Public Health Emergency Operations Center (PHEOC) allocation plan. Additional 1 million pills will also be delivered within May this year, raising the total amount acquired to be 3 million pills as earlier planned.
In addition, the Government Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO) is assigned to source additional few millions more so the public can rest assured that there will be sufficient amount of Favipiravir for COVID 19 patient treatment.

26/04/2021

SINOVAC COVID-19 vaccine from China has arrived Thailand on Saturday in quantity of 500,000 doses.

On April 24, 2021 at 5:35 AM, the Government Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO) received additional Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine from China amount of 500,000 doses arriving Suvarnabhumi Airport after the previous two million doses arrived earlier. The current total amount imported is now 2,500,000 doses.

These 500,000 doses will be transferred to the Department of Disease Control for distribution to wider range of target provincial area with high risk, in accordance with the nation vaccination plan for target group aged between 18-59 years, 2 doses each. In this regard, GPO shall procure additional COVID 19 Vaccine for the Thai people on continuing basis accordingly.

24/04/2021

Questions and Answer : The growth and Sale to GPO of Cannabis flos by community enterprises

15/04/2021

Exploring ASEAN’s biggest Pharmaceutical Factory !
Beside being the biggest pharmaceutical factory in the SouthEast Asain region, plus the country's leader in manufacturing medicines, the Government Pharmaceutical Organization of Thailand (GPO) continues to work to develop capacity through the expansion of their Phase 2 factory.



Thanks: NBT World

https://www.facebook.com/nbtworld/videos/1381045332246053

14/04/2021

“Third batch of Sinovac vaccine arrived in Thailand on 10th April 2021”

The Government Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO) received a third batch of one million doses of Sinovac vaccine from China, which arrived at Suvarnabhumi airport this Saturday, following the prior import of one million doses. A further 500,000 doses will be imported at the end of April, in accordance with the vaccination plan which extends vaccination to a targeted group aged between 18-59 years. 2 doses of this vaccine will be injected per person.

11/04/2021

Researchers Are Hatching a Low-Cost Coronavirus Vaccine
A new formulation entering clinical trials in Brazil, Mexico, Thailand and Vietnam could change how the world fights the pandemic.

A new vaccine for Covid-19 that is entering clinical trials in Brazil, Mexico, Thailand and Vietnam could change how the world fights the pandemic. The vaccine, called NDV-HXP-S, is the first in clinical trials to use a new molecular design that is widely expected to create more potent antibodies than the current generation of vaccines. And the new vaccine could be far easier to make.

Existing vaccines from companies like Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson must be produced in specialized factories using hard-to-acquire ingredients. In contrast, the new vaccine can be mass-produced in chicken eggs — the same eggs that produce billions of influenza vaccines every year in factories around the world.

If NDV-HXP-S proves safe and effective, flu vaccine manufacturers could potentially produce well over a billion doses of it a year. Low- and middle-income countries currently struggling to obtain vaccines from wealthier countries may be able to make NDV-HXP-S for themselves or acquire it at low cost from neighbors.

“That’s staggering — it would be a game-changer,” said Andrea Taylor, assistant director of the Duke Global Health Innovation Center.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/05/health/hexapro-mclellan-vaccine.html

: The New York Times

25/03/2021

GPO to start clinical trial phase 1/2 of a COVID-19 vaccine

The Government Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO) is planning to initiate early-stage clinical evaluation of a NDV-HXP-S COVID-19 vaccine candidate at Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University. The trial will recruit 460 volunteers both males and females at aged between 18 to 75 years old.

Dr. Withoon Danwiboon, managing director says that this vaccine candidate was developed in the United States by Drs. Peter Palese, Adolfo Garcia-Sastre, and Florian Krammer at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York. The candidate also includes a key component called HexaPro by Dr. Jason McLellan, an associate professor and Welch Chair at the University of Texas at Austin, and his team.

The innovative design works by using another virus, inactivated Newcastle disease virus (NDV), to induce the body to defend against COVID-19. The seed virus developed by Mount Sinai was produced by genetically modified NDV to express Hexapro, a stabilized spike protein of the coronavirus on the surface. The genetically engineered virus is inactivated (or killed) so that it does not cause COVID-19. It can be cultivated in embryonated eggs as well as influenza virus. The production process of the COVID-19 vaccine is also similar to what is being used to produce influenza vaccine. Therefore, the COVID-19 vaccine can be produced at the GPO industrial-scale plant.

Via license agreements with Mount Sinai and the University of Texas at Austin, the global organization PATH is helping to provide GPO and other manufacturers around the world access to the vaccine. In an effort to advance the supply of affordable and accessible vaccines, PATH has also played a limited technical advisory support role over the course of the vaccine’s development.
The preliminary pre-clinical toxicity study results in India and challenge study results in the United States showed that the vaccine candidate was safe, protective against COVID-19 infection and able to stimulate the immune system against spike protein of SARS-CoV-2. Currently, it is in the process of document submission to Thai FDA for clinical trial application approval.

Managing Director adds that GPO works with Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University to conduct the clinical trial phase 1/2. The trial have already started recruiting 460 volunteers both males and females aged between 18 to 75 years old on 20 March 2021. This trial is divided into 2 phases; phase 1 to conduct in 210 volunteers at 18-59 years old and phase 2 to conduct in 250 volunteers at 18-75 years old. Volunteers who participate in this trial must not be infected with SARS-CoV-2 (nCoV-2019) which will be screened at the recruitment. The first immunization of NDV-HXP-S COVID-19 vaccine began on 22nd March 2021. Treatments include five formulas of the vaccine containing different spike contents with or without adjuvant and placebo. The objective of the trial is to study the safety profile and to select the suitable vaccine formulas for clinical trial phase 2. If both clinical studies showed promising results, the clinical trial phase 3 will be conducted.

“If successful, GPO would submit this information to Thai FDA for vaccine product registration. At present, GPO Vaccine Manufacturing Plant is capable of producing the COVID-19 vaccine at 25-30 million doses per year. This is to build vaccine security and self-reliance in Thailand.” said managing director.

25/03/2021

Sinovac's COVID-19 vaccine from China the 2nd Lot has just arrived Thailand today in quantity of 800,000 doses.

On March 20, 2021 at 5:35 AM, the Government Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO) received the big lot of Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine from China. The 2nd Lot amount to 800,000 doses is ready to be delivered to Department of Disease Control. To distribute the injection to target groups in more risky provincial area, the target groups aged 18-59 years would take 2 doses each.
At the same time, an additional 5 million doses of the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine will be delivered in continuous basis during the months of April - June 2021.

The Sinovac vaccine is part of Thailand's work for the COVID-19 vaccine management in line with the concise and systematic plan of the Ministry of Public Health. As a result, all Thai citizen could access to quality, safe and effective vaccines in the prevention of COVID-19. In the sake of reducing morbidity and death, it would protect the health system of the country and keep continuously driving the economy.