Economy Minister hails Georgia’s place on world “map of biotechnologies” after domestic company completes modernisation

Georgia’s Economy Minister Levan Davitashvili on Tuesday noted the country’s “long tradition” in production of bacteriophages and its position on the world map of biotechnologies, after a Georgian-based biopharmaceutical company said it had completed a modernisation enabling it to make bacteriophages available for “millions of patients across the globe”.

Davitashvili noted the “successful” operation of BioChimPharm, a domestic company that employs 60 professionals and already exports phages to eight countries, adding it continued the "very long tradition the country has in the production of bacteriophages".

Through this enterprise, Georgia will be proudly represented on the map of technologies, including biotechnologies, in the future", Davitashvili said following the completion of the modernisation of the plant of the company.

Video from EU Delegation to Georgia

The upgrade involved support by the European Union, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation and Georgian Ministry of Economy with a two-year investment project worth ₾17.5 million ($6.59mln), with the modernisation bringing the plant in compliance with the EU Good Manufacturing Practice guidelines, an accepted standard in the European Union.

In his comments, company’s General Manager Rati Golijashvili said both production of phage medication and phage therapy remained "a novelty for most of the countries around the world".

Millions of people still do not have access to phages, leaving patients vulnerable towards antibiotic-resistant infections [...] The modernisation of the manufacturing plant, high-tech infrastructure and production lines enables the company to scale-up its production in compliance with internationally recognised manufacturing standards, to become more effective in fight against the resistant infections and overcome the global threat of antibiotic resistance", he said.

The newly modernised plant of BioChimPharm is located in the Georgian capital Tbilisi’s historical, 1923-founded Institute of Bacteriophages, Microbiology and Virology, and represents the first enterprise producing sterile liquid dosage forms in the South Caucasus.