“The generics industry has shown a commitment to Malta and to the Maltese workforce and I will reciprocate by supporting this industry’s interests in Brussels,” PN-MEP Simon Dr Busuttil said during a visit to Actavis Ltd in Bulebel last week.

Employing 375 workers, Actavis Limited is a subsidiary of the Actavis Group, one of the five leading generic pharmaceutical companies in the world. The group is present in more than 30 countries and has a combined workforce of 10,000 employees.

Generic pharmaceutical products are effective substitutes to branded products but often come at much more competitive prices, thereby helping to push the price of medicines down.

Dr Busuttil said that pharmaceuticals were constantly on the agenda of the European Parliament and in this debate, generics were featuring increasingly.

The MEP said that he was particularly pleased that Actavis employed highly-skilled individuals and was therefore contributing to the important shift that is currently taking place in Malta’s manufacturing base, from low to high value-added production.

He also commended the company for investing in its own research and development department in its Malta operations in a way that the Maltese subsidiary was increasingly contributing to product development for the group.

Actavis Ltd managing director, Steinthor Palsson gave an overview of the Lm18 million investments made in these last few years in upgrading the local facility up to EU standards, bringing in new technology and developing products. He showed the MEP around the renovated Bulebel facility and explained the different phases of the production taking place at the plant.