Monday, May 4, 2015

Egypt opens first factory for locally produced Sovaldi

Egypt opens first factory for locally produced Sovaldi

Egypt's health minister said Hepatitis C is "one of the most dangerous threats to Egypt", on Sunday during the opening ceremony of a factory for the local production of Hepatitis C medication Sovaldi.

Egyptian Health Minister Adel el-Adawi said the ministry is making efforts to lower the prevalence of the disease by prevention, raising awareness and treatment, through opening up the factory, which will produce a medicine called Sovaldi.

In July 2014, Henk Bekedam, the World Health Organisation (WHO) representative in Egypt said the disease kills "40,000 Egyptians a year". According to the WHO, Egypt has a "very high prevalence", with approximately 20% of Egyptian blood donors testing positive.

The local manufacture involves a joint venture called Pharmed Healthcare and an Indian pharmaceutical giant, which will provide the active ingredient in the drug, since the Indian company has received a license to manufacture and market it from American firm Gilead Sciences.

Muhammad Mabrouk, the CEO of Pharmed Healthcare said the medication will be available in markets starting June.

He said that beside the active ingredient, all materials used to make the product are local, which gives Egypt's pharmaceutical sector an "unprecedented" boost. Mabrouk added that the factory will provide 1,000 job opportunities and create 10,000 other indirect opportunities.

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