Two years after going global, Australian healthcare company Medical Developments International (MDI) which manufactures the acute pain killer Penthrox (commonly known as ‘the green whistle’) has opened a new facility in Melbourne
Assisted by CSIRO, MDI has seen its market value rise from less than $10 million dollars in March 2010, to around $290 million now.
Dr Paul Savage, CSIRO Biomedical Research Director, said CSIRO was pleased to play a role in the company‘s export growth, by helping MDI lower processing costs while increasing production.
“We’ve enjoyed a long-standing partnership of over 17 years with MDI, and in that time seen have them become a world-leading SME in the biomed space,” Dr Savage said.
“As the Australian manufacturing industry transitions from high volume commodity products to innovation-driven high-value exports, it is companies like Medical Developments International that are leading the way.
“Australian SMEs are the engine-room of economic development in Australia and CSIRO is proud to play its small part in the growth strategy of star SME’s like MDI.”
MDI’s CEO, John Sharman said the new manufacturing facility in Melbourne’s East was being launched to keep up with global demand for the product.
The company has also added 26 new jobs to keep up with demand.
“Penthrox has now been approved for sale in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, France and Belgium,” Mr Sharman said.
“We’re expecting to enter another 37 markets over the next two years, including Germany, Spain and Italy, and commence the product approval process in the USA.
“This state of the art facility allows us to keep up with not only current demand but future growth over the next decade.
“We expect our work force to grow considerably over the next 12 months.”
MDI is the only company in the world that makes Penthrox, which offers a safe, simple to use, non-narcotic, non-addictive alternative for acute pain management, fitting a significant market need globally.
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