GMP Pharmaceuticals Ltd

GMP Pharmaceuticals Ltd, an Auckland contract manufacturer for the global natural health product market, has achieved annual growth of 50 percent since opening four years ago, with sales expected to reach $18 million in 2007.

Operations Manager Minesh Patel says GMP Pharmaceuticals is the largest contract manufacturer in New Zealand, developing, manufacturing and packaging natural health formulations for other companies to market and distribute. The products are produced in a wide variety of preparations, including  soft gel capsules, hard shell capsules, tablets, creams and powders, and feature intrinsically New Zealand ingredients, such as greenshell mussel extract, shark squalene, shark liver oil, deer products and colostrum.

The company was set up in East Tamaki in 2004 by Chinese national Karl Ye. Mr Ye had already successfully established a similar business in Australia and was attracted to New Zealand by its clean green image and the marketing advantage that would offer, particularly in Asia.

Mr Patel says from an Asian perspective, just having a New Zealand connection is a significant plus to a natural product’s credentials and enables GMP Pharmaceuticals and its clients to position products at the premium end of the market.

GMP Pharmaceuticals’ clients include all the big New Zealand natural health product companies, many of whom export into Asia, as well as overseas companies. It also works with Asian immigrants to New Zealand who have connections in their home countries and who are keen to start a business in the natural product industry.

From the outset, Mr Patel says GMP Pharmaceuticals has positioned itself to be a solutions provider as well as a contract manufacturer.

“We offer our clients a complete one stop service, working alongside them from the beginning when they have just a rough idea as to what product they want to produce, through research and development, manufacture and packaging to the final stage of successfully launching the product in their target market.
 
“We have a deep understanding of the markets we operate in. We know what products will do well in those markets, who to target, what to put on labels and how to enter the market, including the best distribution channels, regulatory assistance and logistics advice.”

Mr Patel says GMP Pharmaceuticals has chosen to focus on the high growth Asia region, including Hong Kong, Singapore, Korea and particularly China, as it has a good understanding of those markets, the culture and regulatory environment.
 
“China is a huge market for natural health products due to its population, culture and economic growth. The fast growing high-end consumer segment are keen to find high quality products imported from western countries. The FTA negotiation between New Zealand and China has also encouraged us to pay more attention to this market.”

He says Mr Ye has recently relocated to Beijing to generate relationships and develop new market opportunities for the company and its clients.

One of the keys to GMP Pharmaceuticals’ success, explains Mr Patel, is its willingness to work with companies of all sizes, including helping small companies or individuals get a foot in the door of the natural health products industry.

“We have become a solution for many companies that are looking at or are in the early stages of exporting. We accept small quantity orders, our product development is part of our service and we offer very competitive prices.”
 
Mr Patel says staff in the East Tamaki plant are highly skilled in problem solving and sourcing standardised raw materials to meet customers’ requirements. The R&D team works closely with the marketing team to develop new, market-leading products. As well as its East Tamaki manufacturing site, it has opened marketing offices in Sydney, Beijing and Hong Kong.

GMP Pharmaceuticals has invested considerable time and money to ensure it can help clients meet compliance and regulatory issues in different export markets, major barriers in the natural health products industry.

Its world class manufacturing facility in East Tamaki is designed to meet the standards of different countries. The facility is certified and licensed by the Australian and New Zealand Government’s as well as world bodies to manufacture not only pharmaceuticals and dietary supplements but also dairy products, restricted animal products, baby foods, organics foods, halal certified products and others.

“We have made great efforts to meet NZ Food Safety Authority requirements for international government regulations and have dramatically increased our export certification giving our customers more opportunities to expand into the international market,” says Mr Patel. “Compared to our competitors, we hold more quality licenses and certificates to meet different market demands.”

Counterfeiting of successful natural health products in China is a growing challenge, and GMP Pharmaceuticals has set up a Chinese office and web-based anti-counterfeiting system to help its clients and other New Zealand natural products exporters overcome this hurdle.

Mr Patel says the move is all part of GMP Pharmaceutical’s efforts to promote New Zealand internationally as a country that produces high quality natural health products.

Contact: Minesh Patel, Operations Manager, GMP Pharmaceuticals, phone 09 272 1111, email minesh@gmp.net.nz, www.gmp.net.nz