Chinese Government provides training of Eastern Pharmaceutical Laboratory serum plant workers (Linked to Record ID#72125)

In 2005, the Chinese Government provided technology and personnel training for Cuban workers at the Eastern Pharmaceutical Laboratory (Laboratorios Farmacéuticos Oriente), located in the city of Santiago, Cuba. The Cuban participants will eventually go onto work in a newly-built serum factory set up with the assistance of China.

The plant is the first of its kind in Cuba and will come into operation by the end of 2005.

The plant will produce the Ringer parenteral solution with sodium lactate, which is required in emergency services, as well as isotonic and hypertonic Dialisol for patients with nephrological conditions. The factory will also supply special water for burn patients and cavity washing.

The plant will produce 15 million units of serum in plastic bags per year to meet the national demand for dextrose at 5, 10 and 30 percent, and sodium chloride at 0.9 percent..

Serums are vital products for emergency departments and nephrology, and the use of plastic bags is cheaper than glass bottles.

Bagged serums occupy less volume, prevent glass breakage accidents, and meet the World Health Organization requirements for recyclable materials.

The new plant was built to help cover the deficit in serum, since production in the factories in Havana and Santiago de Cuba was insufficient. Both plants produce serum in glass jars..

Eastern Pharmaceutical Laboratory is owned by Eastern Pharmaceutical Laboratory Company (Empresa Laboratorios Farmacéuticos Oriente, also known by commercial name LBF Laboratorios Farmacéuticos), which is under the state-owned BioCubaFarma. As of October 2020, the factory has pivoted to producing medical kits and serums for treating Covid-19.

The funding of technology for the serum plant is captured in linked Record ID#72125.