Cadila JV to set up plant in Rwanda
The firm, which is owned by India’s Cadila Pharmaceuticals and the US based Holtzman group, said it will invest $64m (€46m) in the plant, which will produce a range of dosage forms for the local market when fully operational in 2015.
The plant will also make active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and, in time, biologic drugs, injectables and vaccines to cater for the region’s rapidly expanding market.
According to the RDB the new plant will “help Rwanda achieve independence from most pharmaceutical imports by manufacturing high quality products in-country for sale at competitive prices.”
Cadila already has a number of manufacturing interests in Africa including the joint-venture Cadila Pharmaceuticals Ethiopia (CDEL) that it set up in partnership with local manufacturing firm Almeta Impex.
The Ethiopia plant, which produces 390 million tablets, 165 million capsules and 1.44 million litres of liquid pharmaceuticals each year, contributed about INR200m ($4.4m) to Cadila’s revenue in 2010.
Neither Cadila nor Holtzman responded to requests for additional information.
India targets Africa market
Cadila’s efforts to build manufacturing capacity and presence in markets in Africa fits with the trend that has seen a number of other Indian drugmakers invest in the continent.
Most recently Cipla, India’s biggest generic drugmaker, announced that Uganda’s Quality Chemicals Industries would invest $80m in to expand capacity at its manufacturing facility in Kampala.
In September last year for example generics firm Ranbaxy opened its third facility in South Africa, subsequently signing a two-year anti retroviral supply and distribution deal.
Beyond this Strides Acrolab, which makes a wide range of finished pharmaceutical products, has a manufacturing facility in Nigeria and links with South African producer Aspen Pharmacare.
