DFDA Goa Director Jyoti Sardesai does the inaugural ribbon cutting for Wallace Innovation Centre, Ponda (L-R) Vinay Pinto, Cesar Menezes, Rashmi Menezes, Jyoti Sardesai, Dr Pankaj Kumar & Dr Mimi Menezes
AMIDST the economic gloom and doom notes of the Covid-19 pandemic here’s a bit of good news! The Wallace Innovation Centre (WIC) was inaugurated by Smt Jyoti Sardesai (director, Goa Directorate of Food & Drugs Administration) on December 30, 2020, in the presence of Cesar Menezes, Rashmi Menezes, Vinay Pinto, Dr Pankaj Kumar, RP Hegde and the Goa Wallace team
The WIC located in Ponda, Goa, is an establishment of Wallace Pharma, a Goa-headquartered pharmaceutical group operating in India and in over 16 countries worldwide. The 10,000 square feet multi-crore research facility is focussing on the product development of a wide range of liquid, solid and semi-solid pharmaceutical dosage forms and other products. Special focus will be on patient-centric New Drug Delivery Systems (NDDS).
Speaking on the occasion of the inauguration of the new centre, Smt Jyoti Sardesai said, “Goa has a sizeable number of pharma companies of global standards but only a handful of pharma and clinical development facilities. I am happy that his development centre is being promoted by none other than the Menezes family who have been pioneers in Goa’s pharmaceutical sector.”
Interestingly, the facility is housed in a historic building once housing the first pharmaceutical formulation plant in the State of Goa. It has been refurbished and refitted to operate as a modern GMP formulation development and analytical development facility and is being headed by Dr Pankaj Kumar, along with a team of dedicated scientists. Said Vinay Pinto, ED, Wallace Pharma, “We are excited at the specialised focus and enthusiasm that the Wallace Innovation Centre will bring to Goa and the Wallace group.”
The laboratory has the latest GMP design and processes with state-of-the-art instrumentation, analytical and formulation development equipment. In keeping with the ambitions of Wallace Pharma to be a global niche marketer of innovative formulations, the facility has been designed to grow in capability, size and people will service the company’s domestic and ROW markets.