Lina Manufacturing delivers first ever locally produced Metered Dose Inhalers to Health Ministry

From left: Lina Manufacturing Director Shiraz Akbarally, Director and Founder Prof. Anil Goonetilleke, Medical Supplies Division Deputy Director General Dr. D.R.K. Herath, Lina Manufacturing CEO T. Sayandhan and Commercial Operations Manager Lasitha Ranasinghe

Further committing to its nation-building efforts, Lina Manufacturing - the pharmaceutical manufacturing segment of Sunshine Healthcare Lanka (SHL), recently delivered its first order of 100% locally formulated and manufactured Metered-Dose Inhalers (MDIs) to the Ministry of Health (MoH).

Delivered through the Medical Supplies Division of the MoH, the consignment was handed over to Medical Supplies Division Deputy Director General Dr. D. R.K. Herath, by Lina Manufacturing Director and Founder Prof. Anil Goonetilleke. CEO T. Sayandhan, Director Shiraz Akbarally and Commercial Operations Manager Lasitha Ranasinghe, Lina Manufacturing were also present during the official handover of MDIs.

Sunshine Healthcare Lanka, the healthcare arm of the diversified conglomerate Sunshine Holdings PLC, officially commenced the operations of Sri Lanka’s first Metered-Dose Inhaler (MDI) manufacturing plant Lina Spiro Ltd. in Kadawatha, in January 2021. The state-of-the-art factory which has a qualified and experienced staff manufacturing a line of Respiratory Care Products, is the only GMP certified manufacturer of MDI products in Sri Lanka.

Lina Manufacturing CEO T. Sayandhan said: “The unprecedented global health crisis since 2020 has reopened the now-urgent discussion about the role of local pharmaceutical production in addressing the health needs in countries like Sri Lanka.

“Lina Manufacturing is committed to supporting the growing demand for locally manufactured pharmaceutical products as a company that believes in nation-building efforts. In that context, we are extremely honoured to deliver our first, 100% locally formulated and manufactured MDIs to the Health Ministry. This further facilitates access to needed and affordable medicines for every Sri Lankan,” he added. 

Lina Manufacturing has been engaged in the pharmaceutical manufacturing sector for over ten years and is a thriving local manufacturer supplying a large variety of respiratory products to the Government sector and private sector. Lina has pioneered the development of local respiratory products with its patented Respiratory Inhaler Device and continues to invest significantly in R&D to introduce more products. 

As Sri Lanka’s first Respiratory Care Research and Manufacturing facility, Lina Manufacturing produces a range of respiratory pharmaceuticals and devices, including Beclovent, Flutivent, Salbuvent, Prazolin, Winterpan and the award-winning Ventohaler inhalers.

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 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, namely research and development (R&D), manufacturing, importation, distribution and retail.

The company is committed to investing in expanding its production capabilities to facilitate and decrease exposure to imports and international supply chains, ensuring the resilience of Sri Lanka’s national healthcare systems.