Uganda eyes African medicine independence with Dei BioPharma's APPM entry

Sub-Saharan Africa bears a significant burden of diseases like sickle cell and faces high maternal mortality rates, largely due to a lack of accessible medication. For instance, nearly 80% of the global sickle cell burden is on the continent, with limited availability of critical treatments like hydroxyurea.

Addressing this disparity, Uganda’s Dei BioPharma Ltd has achieved a milestone by being formally recognized as a registered supplier under the African Pooled Procurement Mechanism (APPM). Coordinated by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), APPM seeks to create a unified market for medicines across African nations.

Traditionally, African countries procure medicines through fragmented national systems, which can lead to smaller orders and unpredictable demand for local manufacturers. This often discourages the substantial investments required for factories, regulatory approvals, and product development. APPM aims to overcome this by aggregating demand, thereby potentially making local production more viable and cost-effective.

Dei BioPharma’s inclusion is seen as a crucial step towards achieving the African Union’s goal of meeting at least 60% of the continent’s health product needs through local manufacturing by 2040. The company’s expanding regulatory portfolio in Uganda, including approved products for sickle cell disease (HYXUREA) and bleeding management (TRENMIC), demonstrates progress.

However, successful local manufacturing requires more than just factories. It necessitates viable products, robust regulatory frameworks, quality assurance systems, adequate financing, a skilled workforce, and a market capable of purchasing the finished goods. Dei BioPharma’s long-term ambitions include producing injectables, oncology products, biologics, and vaccines, aiming to make essential drugs accessible to a larger global population. Its entry into APPM is a positive development in this direction, though individual product procurement through the mechanism will still depend on meeting specific requirements.

Source: https://observer.ug/news/can-uganda-break-africas-dependence-on-imported-medicines