Whiteley has opened its A$25 million Human Therapeutics Plant in Tomago, New South Wales. The purpose-built facility will manufacture alcohol-based hand rubs and over-the-counter medicines for hospitals and healthcare settings in Australia and New Zealand.
Executive Chairman Dr Greg Whiteley and NSW Member for Port Stephens Kate Washington jointly opened the plant at a ceremony attended by more than 100 stakeholders, staff and officials. The facility is expected to create thirty jobs in research, manufacturing, compliance and operations once it reaches full capacity.
Manufacturing in the Hunter region
The family-owned business has operated from Tomago since 1995. It employs more than seventy people across Australia and New Zealand and exports to more than thirty-five international markets. The new plant will also support scientific collaboration with the University of Newcastle, the University of Sydney and Western Sydney University.
A separate step in export certification
Whiteley reported obtaining Medical Device Single Audit Program certification in 2024. Managing Director Darran Leyden described the quality-system certification as an opportunity to supply medical devices directly from Tomago into the United States and Canadian healthcare markets, following decades of licensing the company’s medical technology to other businesses in North America.
The programme was established by participating medical-device regulators to streamline quality-management-system certification. Its audit approach aims to reduce duplicated regulatory work between countries and minimise the disruption caused to manufacturers by multiple audits.
Research partnerships before the plant opening
University of Newcastle researchers led by Professor Sarah Johnson were to work with Whiteley Corporation, Genesys Electronics Design and Western Sydney University on the Effective Management of Chronic Wounds project. In the university’s update of Jun 5, 2024, an A$1.97 million grant brought total project funding to A$5.6 million over three years.
Areas covered by the research
The collaboration aimed to investigate a combined approach to chronic wound care, bringing together several areas of work:
- wound debridement;
- anti-biofilm treatment;
- wound mapping;
- perception of bacterial engagement in deeper tissue beyond the wound surface.
The funding formed part of the Australian Government’s Cooperative Research Centres Projects programme, which connects industry innovators, researchers, students and end users. The university updated the named collaborators in June 2024 after changes to the partnership originally announced in January 2023. The research funding covers the collaboration’s three-year programme, separately from Whiteley’s investment in its Tomago manufacturing plant.
Company and contact details
Whiteley. Human Therapeutics Plant: 3 Laverick Avenue, Tomago NSW 2322, Australia. Phone: 1800 833 566. Email: [email protected]. Website: https://www.whiteley.com.au/.
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