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Pill bottling .
Not Tested for ” concept since 1998 for its halal journey . This concept is about ensuring that everything is halal from the beginning .
All products manufactured at Duopharma Biotech ' s three plants are halal-certified . At the pre-production stage , there ’ s a firm management decision to select products to be developed or manufactured .
At this stage , their Research and Development ( R & D ) team also plays a crucial role , meticulously identifying and formulating products that meet the stringent criteria of halal compliance .
“ What we do is go by the principle that halal should not be an afterthought .
“ We ensure that halal is built into the process . Once we identify a product we want to make , we ensure that all the raw materials we use are halal ,” added Leonard Ariff .
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Pill manufacturing .
HALAL SOURCES AND PROCESSES
Halal should not be limited to the end products distributed to the consumers but should also be from the source materials used and the manufacturing process for those medicines , as stated earlier .
“ One can look at halal in two parts ; there ’ s halal itself , and there ’ s toyyiban ,” said Leonard Ariff .
“ Halal talks about the product itself in terms of the raw material used . On the other hand , toyyiban talks about the cleanliness behind the manufacturing of it .”
Therefore , in ensuring that the products
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which reach consumers adhere to halal standards , Duopharma Biotech has guaranteed that their facilities and raw material sources also meet halal compliance .
Before purchasing any form of raw materials , packaging materials , utensils , or equipment used in the manufacturing process , Duopharma Biotech conducts a rigorous evaluation for each component .
This evaluation verifies that all materials meet the strict halal requirements and that only approved halal-compliant materials are allowed in their production facilities .
However , this is not only limited to their processing plants .
Duopharma Biotech ' s dedication to halal compliance extends to every aspect of its business . This includes ; their operations , storage , distribution ,
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sales , marketing , finance , human resources , legal , internal audits and even administration .
“ What we try to do is beyond just looking at halal from a product perspective , we also look at halal from an environmental perspective .
“ We also understand that we want our entire factory and other facilities to operate in a manner that would not compromise the halal status of our products ,” Leonard Ariff explained .
Through thorough and regular halal audits , Duopharma Biotech ensures its production plants and products retain their halal certification and the integrity of their halal supply chain .
COLLABORATIONS AND PARTNERSHIPS IN THE HALAL LANDSCAPE
Duopharma Biotech has collaborated
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with various stakeholders and governmental agencies that support its halal initiative to further strengthen its commitment to halal standards and halal compliance .
“ The major stakeholder for us is the certifying body , JAKIM , but we also worked extensively with the Halal Development Corporation ( HDC ) which provided us with advisory services and market penetration leads .
“ Both parties have been extremely supportive of our initiative to continue to provide value add healthcare products with halal certification , because operating in a country where over 65 per cent of the population is Muslim , it is in our interest to ensure that our products are actually halal and halalcertified as well .”
Duopharma Biotech also maintains strong relationships with various academic and research institutions on halal pharmaceuticals .
The most recent collaboration Duopharma Biotech had in the realm of academia was funding the halal market research on “ Factors Influencing Consumers in Purchasing the Halal-Certified Pharmaceutical Products in Malaysia ” with the Faculty of Pharmacy , Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia ( UKM ) in 2022 .
In addition to research , Duopharma Biotech has also partnered with UKM and the Malaysian Pharmacists Society on a programme to support the growth of halal entrepreneurs , such as the “ Halal Pharmapreneur Professional Certificate Programme ,” whereby the essence of the programme is to equip pharmacists with entrepreneurship skills with the halal-centric business knowledge of being a community pharmacist .
LOOKING BEYOND MEDICINAL REMEDIES
Although they already adhere to halal standards and compliance within their products , such as the anti-inflammatory drug Duocoxib Film Coated Tablet , there is more room to grow for Duopharma Biotech .
“ As far as Duopharma Biotech is concerned , we have been focusing on biologics for quite a while .
Oncology is also a field that is within Duopharma Biotech ' s sight . The company was also the first pharmaceutical company to have manufactured and received certification for the first halal cancer treatment products .
Leonard Ariff wants Duopharma Biotech to launch more halal-certified products in biologics and oncology .
“ Duopharma Biotech was also one of the first companies to state our targets for sustainability , where we are committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2030 and net zero by 2050 ,” added Leonard Ariff .
In terms of sustainability , Duopharma Biotech has started looking into renewables , such as installing EV charges at their manufacturing sites and even delving into waste destruction and the reduction of single-use plastics .
Leonard Ariff concluded : “ There is a lot of effort going into the question about sustainability as a company . There are low-hanging fruits in slightly more complicated subjects around the questions of sustainability .
“ But we are already in the process of doing a few things . So , there is quite an area around ESG that we are focusing on at the moment .” – Xtra
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