Portal U de A

By: Andrea Carolina Vargas Malagón, Journalist at UdeA Communications Department 

The Medication Compounding Center at UdeA—the only public facility of its kind in the country— will implement a sterilizing filtration line to produce sterile compounded solutions, including antidotes and essential medications that are otherwise unavailable. This initiative is part of one of two new agreements signed between Universidad de Antioquia, the Ministry of Health and Social Protection, and the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation. The second agreement includes the development and production of the drug primaquine phosphate, vital for comprehensive malaria treatment. 

The Medication Compounding Center of UdeA’s Faculty of Pharmaceutical and Food Sciences began operating in 2014 at the Hospital Alma Máter de Antioquia. Photo: UdeA Communications Department / Andrea Carolina Vargas Malagón.  

On July 24, Universidad de Antioquia, through the Faculty of Pharmaceutical and Food Sciences (CIFAL), formalized two new agreements with the Ministry of Health as part of an alliance aimed at strengthening the public production of essential medicines in Colombia and promoting the country's health and pharmaceutical sovereignty. 

The first of these agreements involves UdeA’s Medication Compounding Center, where a sterilizing filtration line will be implemented for the production of sterile compounded solutions. "Unlike the UdeA Essential Medicines Plant, the Medication Compounding Center does not carry out industrial production. Rather, it prepares individualized medications based on a medical prescription for a specific patient," explained Wber Orlando Ríos Ortiz, dean of the UdeA Faculty of Pharmaceutical and Food Sciences. 

The first four medications will be delivered along with the sterilizing filtration line. Studies conducted by the Faculty of Pharmaceutical and Food Sciences, the Ministry of Health, and Hospital Alma Máter de Antioquia concluded that this unit can produce 30 medications. These initial formulations include 99% ethyl alcohol, used as an antidote in cases of methanol and ethylene glycol poisoning; sodium nitrite, effective against cyanide poisoning; magnesium sulfate, used in the treatment of pesticide poisoning; and sodium bicarbonate, in high demand in hospitals due to its role in correcting imbalances such as metabolic acidosis. 

The UdeA Medication Compounding Center —located at Hospital Alma Máter de Antioquia —has an INVIMA Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) certification and has produced all parenteral nutrition products administered at the institution for 11 years. These products are the nutrient mixtures administered intravenously to patients unable to obtain nutrition through other means. "With this new agreement, the compounding center will not only expand its operational capacity but will also become a strategic player for the country in the production of hard-to-reach medications," commented Ríos Ortiz. 

UdeA will produce primaquine, an essential drug for malaria 

The second agreement signed between Universidad de Antioquia and the Ministry of Health will allow the University’s Essential Medicines Plant to develop and manufacture primaquine phosphate in 5 mg and 15 mg doses. This drug is key in the comprehensive treatment of malaria. While chloroquine—also produced by UdeA’s medicines plant—eliminates the blood forms of the parasite that causes the disease, primaquine acts on the latent forms that remain in the liver and prevents future relapses. 

You may be interested in: Invima authorized UdeA to produce malaria medication 

"The fact that the Faculty continues a learning process that began 30 years ago—when it had its own health registrations and manufactured nearly 16 medications for the former Social Security system—demonstrates the trajectory it has accumulated over its 110 years," commented Ríos Ortiz. 

Both recently signed agreements will be financed through the Health Research Fund. The first will receive an investment of 1.5 billion pesos, while approximately 1.8 billion pesos will be allocated to the second, which is related to primaquine. Both agreements are scheduled to be implemented over a period of 14 months. 

"This University is marking a milestone and laying out a roadmap. It is putting not only its Public Medication Production Plant at the country's service but also its Medication Compounding Center for the production of compounded drugs. This is a valuable moment that builds confidence and shows, once again, that UdeA is a leader in research and turning the resulting knowledge into social impact," concluded Ríos Ortiz.