Innobic allocates B1bn for investments

The budget allocation was announced by Buranin Rattanasombat, PTT's senior executive vice-president and chairman of Innobic (Asia).

The company is cooperating with the Government Pharmaceutical Organization to develop a cancer drug manufacturing facility named GPO Oncology with an investment of 2.5 billion billion baht.

The factory will be located in PTT-owned Wanarom Eco Zone Industries, also known as WEcozi, in Rayong's Ban Chang district.

The facility is scheduled to be operating within 2027.

Mr Buranin said the construction of the cancer drug plant is time-consuming as its development involves seeking many licences.

Another portion of the 1-billion-baht spending will go to the construction of a plant-based protein production facility in Ayutthaya, he said.

Earlier Innobic and Nove Foods Co, a subsidiary of SET-listed NR Instant Produce, a producer of vegetarian and plant-based food, formed a joint venture named NRPT to make what Innobic calls "future food".

NRPT aims to produce alternative plant-based protein which is viewed as future food for consumers.

Its factory is designed to have a production capacity of 3,000 tonnes per year. The facility will serve as a production base and a distribution hub for the Asean market.

The plant is scheduled for commercial operation by the middle of this year.

Plant-based protein is expected to be in high demand. The business will support PTT's new direction.

Mr Buranin said earlier Innobic plans to launch two new products in the fields of medical nutrition and food supplements to serve the ageing market.

He said ageing and aged societies have emerged in many countries, driving demand for food that can restore and strengthen their health.

According to Mr Buranin, the 1-billion-baht budget does not cover Innobic's plans to acquire new assets to help its parent firm make rapid growth in medicine and nutrition businesses.