MEPHICO, short for Middle East Pharmaceutical and Industrial Co., is one of the oldest drug manufacturers in Lebanon. It was founded in 1956 in Beirut and moved in 1962 to its own plant in Jamhour, on the old Damascus road above the capital in the Baabda district. From 1965 it began manufacturing under license for international pharmaceutical companies, a model that lets foreign brands be produced locally instead of imported. The company still works from the Mephico building on the Damascus International Road and is listed by the Ministry of Public Health among authorized local manufacturers. For anyone curious about how long Lebanon has been making its own medicines, MEPHICO is a good example: more than six decades of production from the same hillside site.
MEPHICO at a glance
- Founded in 1956 in Beirut
- Moved to its Jamhour plant in 1962
- Licensed manufacturing for international companies since 1965
- Listed by the Ministry of Public Health as a local manufacturer