From field to formulation: medicinal-plant processing

A core part of the Andijan-Pharm mandate is something most free zones cannot offer: turning locally grown medicinal plants into finished pharmaceutical inputs, on the same site where they are cultivated and processed.

The Fergana Valley, in which Andijan sits, has a centuries-old tradition of medicinal-plant cultivation and one of Uzbekistan’s most fertile growing climates. The zone is designed to capture the full value of that raw material — rather than exporting it unprocessed — by pairing fields with extraction and formulation under one regime.

A dedicated green and orchard cluster

The zone’s western parcels are deliberately reserved as a green and orchard cluster. Instead of being paved over, this land is set aside for cultivation of liquorice, peppermint, milk thistle and other pharmacopoeial crops, with extraction facilities placed immediately alongside.

Keeping the field and the factory together matters for quality: the active compounds in medicinal plants begin to degrade after harvest, so the shorter the distance to processing, the higher the yield and consistency of the extract.

From field to formulation

The intended value chain runs end to end inside the zone:

1. Cultivation of medicinal crops on the western green cluster and contracted farms across the valley
2. Primary processing — drying, milling and stabilisation close to harvest
3. Extraction of standardised active botanical ingredients
4. Formulation into finished dosage forms by pharmaceutical residents

Each step that stays inside Uzbekistan adds value that previously left the country with the raw herb.

Why it works here

Three conditions make Andijan unusually well suited to this model:

• Raw material on the doorstep — established medicinal-plant agriculture across the Fergana Valley
• Processing-friendly incentives — the same tax holidays, duty-free equipment imports and government utilities that pharma residents receive
• A pharma anchor — drug manufacturers already in the zone provide a ready downstream buyer for standardised botanical inputs

Part of a broader mandate

Medicinal-plant processing sits within the zone’s wider pharma-first, processing-friendly positioning. It is one reason food and agro-processing tenants — including dairy and fruit-juice producers — operate comfortably alongside pharmaceutical manufacturers: the same cold chain, water treatment and quality infrastructure serves them all.

For investors, the message is simple: bring the extraction or formulation capacity, and the raw material, the incentives and the downstream demand are already in place.