Arab API’s USD 165 mn factory, now under construction in Ain Sokhna, could help curb Egypt’s hefty import bill for pharma raw materials, according to a statement from the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone). The joint venture between local pharma players Eipico, the Arab Company for Drug Industries and Medical Appliances (Acdima), and the SCZone is expected to produce 350 tons of cephalosporin a year and fill a USD 250 mn hole in the country’s import bill, according to an earlier statement from project partner Eipico.

Why it matters: The Egyptian Drug Authority's celebration of achieving a 91.3% self-sufficiency rate for pharma products last May — the figure is likely a bit higher now — is deeply reliant on imported raw materials. True localization, as we’ve seen in the auto industry and others, requires onshoring substantial chunks of the production chain. Today, we import some 90% of the raw materials used in pharma production. We once looked at self-sufficiency through a Nasserist lens; today, targeting it in key sectors is a mechanism to help cope with FX volatility and supply chain shocks.

** Want more? We took a look into the pharma sector’s localization drive and pricing shake-ups in an Inside Industry published late last year. Tap or click here to check it out.

(** Tap or click the headline above to read this story with all of the links to our background as well as external sources.)

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