From lozenge expertise
to pharmaceutical manufacturing.

INTERVIEW · 22 SEPTEMBER 2026

A specialist journey built over nearly 30 years

In an interview published in LabMedya issue 97, MeksMar Pharma CEO Kemal Bahçecitapar looked back on the company's journey from herbal lozenge production to pharmaceutical manufacturing, and outlined the next stage of its international growth.

Founded in 1997, MeksMar identified an underserved market for blister-packed lozenges in Türkiye. Development work led to pharma-quality blister lozenge production in 2002, followed by export growth and increasingly demanding contract-manufacturing projects. The interview says the company's products now reach more than 40 countries across four continents.

Pharmaceutical investment under one roof

The new pharmaceutical facility occupies approximately 5,000 square metres of enclosed space within an 11,000-square-metre campus. The investment was completed in 2025, and the company received its pharmaceutical manufacturing authorisation and GMP certificate in early 2026.

Quality control, microbiology, chemistry, R&D and product-development activities are supported within the facility. Formulation, pilot production, analytical work, stability studies, manufacturing, packaging, storage, quality control and batch release are coordinated as one connected process.

CMO and CDMO partnerships

Bahçecitapar describes two complementary partnership models. CMO projects focus on manufacturing from an established product or technical dossier. CDMO projects begin earlier, supporting formulation, feasibility, analytical completion, scale-up and the route to a market-ready product.

The interview also highlights experience across hard, soft, sugar-free, medicated, chewable and dissolvable formats, alongside sprays and syrups. A planned 2027 investment in dissolvable tablets is intended to extend this expertise into additional dosage forms.

A long-term international vision

MeksMar aims to combine specialist lozenge technologies with laboratory, R&D, product-development and regulatory capabilities. Its stated direction is to build trusted international CMO and CDMO partnerships, continue investing in pharmaceutical production and develop differentiated, science-led products for global markets.

Source: LabMedya, issue 97, pages 24-25 - interview with MeksMar Pharma CEO Kemal Bahçecitapar. This article is an editorial summary; the source PDF is retained internally and is not distributed through this website.