BDMS zooms in on revenue of Bt100 billion in three years

“Due to recent investments and more acquisitions of hospitals, BDMS is set to grow regionally. We aim to become one of the biggest medical operators in Southeast Asia,” Prasert Prasarttong-Osoth, president and chief executive officer, said yesterday.
The group could be listed among the top five operators in medical services by revenue, number of hospitals and patient beds, and net profit.
The group’s revenue is expected to reach Bt100 billion in 2018, up from last year’s record of more than Bt70 billion.
BDMS would seek new investments in the domestic market following the government’s announcement to promote the country as a medical hub of the region and to develop more special economic zones, which would increase the need for hospitals.
It is also eyeing overseas markets due to the free flow of personnel brought by formation of the Asean Economic Community last year.
In September, BDMS spent Bt12.8 billion to acquire a 15-rai (24,000-square-metre) plot and the Swissotel Nai Lert Park Hotel.
Last month it said it plans to acquire Mayo Hospital for Bt1.39 billion.
And yesterday, the group’s Medicpharma Co opened a 15-rai facility to increase medicine production via innovation and technology, making quality medicine more available to the public.
Wisanu Assawes, deputy CEO for BDMS’ Non-Hospital Group and managing director of Medicpharma, said the Bt920-million factory located in the Sinsakhon Industrial Estate of Samut Sakhon produces quality pharmaceuticals for the domestic and overseas markets to promote Thailand as a medical hub on the international stage. 
“The internationally recognised manufacturing standard enables Medicpharma to produce drugs for developed countries such as European countries, Japan, Australia and the United States,” he said.
The investment was not only for modern machinery and equipment but also for the latest construction technology used to develop the 18,000 square metres of area across four buildings. 
Medicpharma was established in 1971 with registered capital of Bt10.5 million by a group of Thai doctors and pharmacists to produce modern pharmaceutical products for hospitals, clinics and pharmacies across the country. 
After a capital increase, BDMS became the biggest shareholder of Medicpharma. 
The factory, however, supplies only 10 per cent of pharmaceutical products to hospitals in the BDMS group.
The company is certified for Good Manufacturing Practice by the Thai Food and Drug Administration and has been conferred the ISO 9001 in all categories of drug manufacturing and ISO 17025 for laboratory standards. 
It won the Thai FDA’s “Quality Award” in 2015 and 2016. 
The factory’s annual production capacity is 6.7 billion pills, 1 billion capsules, 2.8 million litres of liquid medicine, 175 tonnes of powder and 140 tonnes of semi-liquid medicine.
“With the predicted capacity, we hope to see continuous growth of 30 per cent and reach the break-even point in the seventh year. 
“The company’s plan is to enhance the Thai pharmaceutical industry to become the leader in the Asean countries and to support the government’s plan to turn Thailand into a medical hub of the world. 
“We also aim to provide healthcare sustainability by reducing the import of medicine and providing better accessibility to medicine for the Thai public,” he added.