PharmaProduct Manu-factur­ing, Cambodia’s self-described first pharmaceutical plant, announced last week plans to expand into other ASEAN mar­kets once the ASEAN Com­mu­nity frame-work is adopted in 2015.

According to its online materials, the producer of the painkiller KINAL – among oth­er medicines – opened its doors in 1996, and has since pushed into more than a dozen mostly Francophone African markets.

If the regional push is successful, WHO communi­ca­­­tions officer Sonny Krishnan said the company could “defin­itely” have a positive impact on the availability and affordability of quality drugs.

“That would bypass the counterfeiters, be­­cause there are quality drugs being made affordable to everyone.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Stuart White at [email protected]