Vitex Pharmaceuticals has officially opened its $250 million Wonderland manufacturing facility in Western Sydney, creating 800 jobs and significantly expanding Australia’s pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity.
Vitex Pharmaceuticals has officially opened its new $250 million Wonderland manufacturing facility in Eastern Creek, marking the largest investment in Australian pharmaceutical manufacturing in more than 20 years.
The Australian family-owned company unveiled the facility on 3 July alongside prime minister Anthony Albanese, NSW premier Chris Minns, Vitex executive chairman Dr Elie Chami and chief executive officer Dr Aniss Chami.
Operating alongside the company’s original 2017 site, the new facility triples Vitex’s manufacturing footprint and will create 800 high-skilled jobs, increasing its Western Sydney workforce to more than 1,200. Once fully operational, Wonderland is expected to become one of the largest pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities in the Southern Hemisphere.
Dr Aniss Chami said the investment represented a major milestone for both the company and Australia’s pharmaceutical industry.
“Wonderland is the boldest commitment our family has ever made to Australian pharmaceutical manufacturing. We are creating 800 long-term careers in engineering, R&D, operations and quality assurance, in an industry the world trusts Australia to lead.
“As a contract manufacturer, Vitex is the unseen hand behind many of Australia’s most trusted brands. Our clients bring us an idea and we carry it all the way to the shelf. This facility triples our capacity to do that – onshore, by Australian workers, to the world’s most rigorous pharmaceutical standards.”
Prime minister Anthony Albanese said the project demonstrated the strength of Australian manufacturing.
“This stands as a testament to the ingenuity, intelligence and hard work that drives Australian industry – supporting high skilled, well-paid jobs. It’s an investment in Western Sydney, in our nation and in our capacity for dynamic manufacturing and growing trade – my Government will always back that.”
NSW premier Chris Minns said the investment reinforced Western Sydney’s importance as a manufacturing hub.
“Western Sydney is one of the fastest-growing regions in the country, and it deserves the jobs, investment and industries that come with that growth. This investment means 800 new skilled jobs, more medicines made here in NSW, and another vote of confidence in Western Sydney’s future.”
Wonderland brings complementary medicines, over-the-counter products, pharmacist-only medicines and prescription medicines together under one roof. The facility has been developed in response to Australia’s ongoing medicine shortages and is licensed to manufacture Schedule 4 prescription medicines.
Australia’s complementary medicines sector is worth more than $6.2 billion annually and supports almost 16,000 jobs. Vitex exports Australian-made pharmaceutical products to 26 countries, including China, Vietnam, Thailand, New Zealand and South Korea.
Founder and executive chairman Dr Elie Chami said the company’s decision to continue manufacturing in Australia had underpinned its long-term growth.
“I started Vitex in Western Sydney in 1989 with little more than a conviction that Australia could make medicines as well as anyone in the world. Today my children are opening one of the largest facilities of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere, just kilometres from where we began.
“Many brands chase lower-cost manufacturing offshore. We made the opposite decision early, because ‘Australian-made’ carries real weight. Australia’s standards are recognised globally as the gold standard, and that is exactly why products made in this building will be trusted by millions of consumers. Vitex is an Australian success story – but first and always, it is a Western Sydney story.”
