(Ecofin Agency) - The South African pharmaceutical company Aspen Pharmacare Holdings announced, on October 26, that it would invest ZAR3.4 billion ($231 million) in an anesthetic production line in its Port Elizabeth based plant (1050 km from Johannesburg).

"The investment will support the production of sterile anesthetics", said Stavros Nicolaou, one of the high officials of Aspen, during an investment forum held in Johannesburg.

Inaugurated last May, the Port Elizabeth plant produces drugs for terminal cancer, Parkinson disease and some other autoimmune diseases which were outsourced in European countries till then. About 95% of its products are exported to the rest of the world.  

Aspen Pharmacare Holdings has 18 industrial sites in the world and employs more than 10,000 workers. The group valued at more than $9.6 billion distributes its drugs in 150 countries in the world.