Emad Grace, Chairman of Merck – Egypt Pharmaceuticals, said that his company will pump investments worth around one billion Egyptian pounds in the Egyptian market in 2016, by manufacturing its products indirectly through Amoun and Minapharm Pharmaceuticals factories.
He explained that the company supplies Amoun and Minapharm factories with raw materials, expertise, training, knowledge and awareness, adding that Merck has achieved sales until November of 2015 worth around L.E.561m, with a growth rate estimated at 20 per cent, the highest among pharmaceutical companies in the Egyptian market.
In exclusive statements to The Middle East Observer, Grace said that growth is due to increased sales of the high blood pressure drug Concor, Gonal-F for fertility and other cancer medications.
He pointed out that Merck is a German company that dates back to around 350 years and is the oldest pharmaceutical company in the world. It has a capital of $15bn and produces drugs in the fields of diabetes, blood pressure, blood vessels, cancer and gynecology and has about 40,000 employees worldwide.
Grace added that the company has been operating in the Egyptian market since 1965 and has 200 employees that are increasing in number year after year.
The large part of the company’s investments in Egypt is spent in the field of medical education and training and the company is number one in sales of blood pressure and diabetes medications.
The company plans to implement a plan to provide the Egyptian market with the latest treatments for some rare diseases, such as some metabolic diseases and the treatment of growth hormone deficiency in children.
The company announced in December the launch of a new drug for the treatment of hypothyroidism that has been approved by the Ministry of Health. “The German-made medication will be sold at a price of L.E.6, 10 and 15, according to doses,” he said, stressing that it is administered to patients for two months.
