Abbott Opens $60M IOL Manufacturing Plant in Malaysia

Illinois-based Abbott Laboratories has opened a US$60 million intraocular lens (IOL) manufacturing facility in Kedah, Malaysia, the firm announced April 14.

The state-of-the-art 160,000-square-foot plant will employ about 500 workers in the fields of engineering, supply chain management, manufacturing, and quality and compliance, according to the firm.

The plant will use the same processes, equipment, materials, and quality standards as its IOL manufacturing facilities in the Netherlands and Puerto Rico, Abbott said.

"Abbott will make millions of these lenses each year in this new facility, which will help meet the growing need for cataract surgeries as the global population gets older,” said Tom Frinzi, senior vice president of Abbott’s vision business.

With the addition of new manufacturing lines and technology in the future, the facility will have the capacity to make more than 4 million lenses a year, the company said.

The first IOLs will be available to doctors and patients in the second half of 2016.

Located in the Kulim Hi-Tech industrial park, the plant is the only facility in Malaysia focused on manufacturing products used in cataract surgery, Abbott said. It is also the first manufacturing investment in Malaysia for Abbott.