The facility, located at the Amata City Industrial Estate in Rayong province, will create job opportunities for more than 400 people in the community in a variety of areas, including pharmaceutical production, quality systems, laboratory sciences, engineering and industrial automation, and safety and environmental protection.

“This new facility underscores Baxter’s commitment to the Thailand market, to ESRD patients and to the local community,” said Paul Vibert, corporate vice president and president of Baxter International Inc.

Since 2008, Baxter has supported Thailand’s PD First policy, which focuses on PD as the first therapeutic option for ESRD patients. The initiative was launched by the National Health Security Office to provide affordable healthcare options to ESRD patients covered under the universal-coverage health scheme.

ESRD affects more than 70,000 lives in Thailand. Baxter’s manufacturing plant will produce PD solutions to help save patient lives here in Thailand, said Sonthirat Sonthijirawong, adviser to the minister of industry and the chairman at the facility opening.

To mark the opening, Baxter also signed a memorandum of understanding with the pharmacy faculty of Mahidol University for an internship programme for its students.

Operating in Thailand since 1994, Baxter offers a broad portfolio of hospital and renal products. In addition to supplying several million containers of PD solutions to patients’ homes each year, Baxter Thailand provides nutrition, anaesthesia, biosurgery, oncology and CRRT (continuous renal replacement therapy) products and services.