MANILA – The National Development Co. (NDC) said a new vaccine manufacturer and a gamma irradiation facility pitched their project proposals for possible investments.
NDC General Manager Anton Mauricio told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) on the sidelines of an event in Parañaque City Monday that the NDC Board is still reviewing both project proposals.
“We’re probably going to put up another vaccine manufacturing facility with another group. And it’s actually in the existing plans to have a portion of the facility to have animal vaccines, especially animals for food,” Mauricio said.
Last month, NDC and Glovax Lifescience Corp. started the construction of the country’s first vaccine manufacturing plant in Taysan, Batangas.
Mauricio added that the new vaccine production proposal came from a 100-percent Filipino company, which he declined to name.
This type of project can help in ensuring food security as animal vaccines can be used for combatting animal diseases, such as African swine fever and bird flu, among others.
Another proposal for the NDC’s funding was a gamma irradiation facility, which sterilizes food by exposing it to ionizing radiation to destroy microorganisms.
The NDC executive mentioned that this kind of facility will help food exporters tap other markets, like Australia, that require gamma irradiation seals.
This facility is also rare in the Philippines. The first irradiation facility in the country is owned and operated by the Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Nuclear Research Institute.
The Board of Investments also approved a PHP548.7-million project of Irradiation Solutions, Inc. (ISI), which is the second irradiation facility in the country.
NDC, which is under the Department of Trade and Industry, is a state-owned enterprise investing in projects that are pioneering, innovative, and bringing inclusive growth. (PNA)
