Eisai expands its presence in Africa with subsidiaries in South Africa and Kenya

SOUTH AFRICA— Eisai Pharmaceuticals Africa (Pty) Ltd (Eisai South Africa), a completely owned subsidiary of Eisai, has opened its doors in Johannesburg, South Africa.

This newly founded subsidiary will begin full-fledged operations, and direct sales and business activities in Africa.

Eisai began distributing its medications in South Africa through local distribution partners in 2017, marketing anticancer drugs Halaven and Lenvima, as well as antiepileptic drugs Fycompa.

Eisai South Africa was founded in May 2022 and took over the marketing authorization permissions for those items from their local distribution partners.

Eisai South Africa began direct sales and marketing for Lenvima and Fycompa in January 2024, and Halaven in February 2024.

In addition, the anti-insomnia medicine Dayvigo is set to hit the market in June 2024.

Eisai South Africa intends to increase sales of these items to additional Southern African Development Community (SADC) member states, including Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Furthermore, a regulatory file for Alzheimer’s disease treatment LEQEMBI in South Africa is planned for fiscal year 2023, which ends March 31, 2024.

South Africa has a population of around 60 million, with the largest pharmaceutical market in Sub-Saharan Africa at US$3.477 billion  in 2022, demonstrating an annual growth rate of 6% in local currency terms from 2018 to 2022.

Eisai Pharmaceuticals Africa (Pty) Ltd (“Eisai Kenya”), a branch of Eisai South Africa established in October 2022 in Nairobi,  Kenya, will increase access to new treatments such as Halaven and Fycompa in Kenya and other East African Community (EAC) countries such as Tanzania and Uganda through local distribution partners.

Eisai Kenya will collaborate with research institutes, including the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi) and the Nagasaki University Institute of Tropical Medicine’s Kenya Research Station, to expand people’s networks and promote R&D and medicine access. NTDs and malaria are two of Eisai’s focus areas.

In recent years, Africa’s average life expectancy has increased, and there is projected to be an increase in demand for cancer and dementia therapies.

Meanwhile, boosting access to treatments for NTDs, which produce a vicious cycle of poverty and infectious diseases in endemic areas, potentially impeding economic progress, is a pressing issue.

In search  for solutions to these challenges in Africa, Eisai will continue its initiatives to bring vital medicines to the people who need them through Eisai South Africa and Eisai Kenya.

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