GHANA – Indian pharmaceutical company Sushen Medicamentos and American philanthropist Michael Obeng have partnered with Ghanaian government to build a $50 million drug manufacturing facility in Akwamu, Ghana.
Sushen Medicamentos Private Limited is a global organization of end-to-end pharmaceutical services with all-embracing experience in pharma projects, management and development of high-quality pharmaceutical generic products.
The facility under construction is expected to produce medications to treat high blood pressure, diabetes, malaria and pain as well as progress the agenda of pharmaceutical emancipation in Africa.
The drug plan will bolster local production of COVID-19 vaccines to help in the fight against the pandemic as well as Tuberculosis and malaria vaccines.
The project financiers seek to address the lack of pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities in regions like sub-Saharan Africa which have been greatly highlighted by the global COVID-19 pandemic.
The first phase the drug plant project will take about nine months to complete at the cost of up to US$8 million and the overall construction is expected to be done by early June 2023.
Ghanaian President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has recently revealed plans to set up a national vaccine institute whose mandates would be establishing local vaccine manufacturing plants, deepening research and development for vaccines for Africa.
Kenya partners Moderna Inc.
Earlier, Kenya has partnered with American biotechnology firm Moderna to set up the first mRNA manufacturing facility in Africa which is expected to produce up to 500 million doses of vaccines each year.
Moderna intends to invest up to US$500 million in building this new facility which will focus on drug substance manufacturing on the continent of Africa for Africa.
The state-of-the-art mRNA facility in Africa could also be expanded to include fill/finish and packaging capabilities of its COVID-19 vaccine at the site as early as 2023.
Moreover, the mRNA global public health vaccine program including vaccine programs against HIV and Nipah virus will ensure sustainable access to transformative mRNA innovation on the African continent.
The setting up of the mRNA manufacturing facility will further address the challenges faced by the African continent in buying COVID-19 vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic since vaccines were not available for countries to purchase.
US$500m drug plant under construction
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) is collaborating with the Ugandan government to build the US$500 Dei Biopharma multibillion vaccine manufacturing plant at Matugga in Wakiso district.
The US$500m project which will be implemented in phases is being funded by the Equity Bank Group, the Uganda Development Bank and other pro-development institutions.
A team of World Health Organization experts recently visited the multi-billion biological drugs and mRNA vaccine manufacturing facility plant which is expected to lead Africa in traditional medicines research.
The biological products facility of DEI Biopharma will produce all the biologic medicines listed as essential drugs including filgrastim, erythropoietin, and trastuzumab to name a few.
The drug plant will provide Ugandans with all drugs they need in healthcare and other expensive medicines they cannot afford.
Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr. Monica Musenero commended the DEI Biopharma group for carrying the African resilience flag so high and providing a solution that would lead to research and manufacturing of traditional medicines to serve Africa and humanity.
She further said that Uganda’s dream is to industrialize the country and Africa to fight poverty and underdevelopment.
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