Dr. Ali El-Ghamrawy, Head of the Egyptian Drug Authority, participated today in an inspection tour of the Medical Professions Factory affiliated with the ACDIMA Group, as well as a press conference held on the sidelines of his visit. The event was attended by Dr. Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Health and Population, and Dr. Baha Zidan, Head of the Unified Procurement Authority for Medical Supply and Equipment.
During his speech, the Head of the Egyptian Drug Authority praised the efforts of the Medical Professions Factory in meeting the local demand for domestically produced insulin.
The Head of the Authority indicated that locally produced insulin rivals the imported one, thanks to a strong regulatory authority that has, within just four years, obtained high-level international accreditations, including the third maturity level from the World Health Organization in the field of vaccine production. This underscores the importance of boosting confidence in local products that use the same raw materials from the same sources as those used in the imported insulin drugs. The production lines have the capacity to cover a significant portion of the annual domestic consumption.
The Head of the Authority reassured the Egyptian public that the insulin stock in Egypt is secure. The Egyptian Drug Authority is working with local and international industry partners to ensure continuous insulin supplies. They have encouraged the use of air freight to reduce the arrival time of the imported insulin and increase the quantities of locally produced insulin supplied to the domestic market. The Egyptian pharmaceutical market is expected to see significant flows in the coming period that will cover needs and support the strategic stock of insulin. Additionally, the imported insulin is available in a safe quantity and will see a significant increase by mid-August.
He emphasized that the Drug Authority requires pharmaceutical products to meet global specifications in terms of selecting raw materials and excipients, analyzing them, and ensuring their safety. Additionally, bioequivalence studies are conducted between the locally manufactured product and the original product to determine the differences in the quantities of the local drug in the blood and its absorption compared to the original drug.
The Head of the Authority indicated that the stock of the fully manufactured insulin vials at the Medical Professions Company exceeds one million vials, and the available raw materials at the factory are sufficient to produce three million vials. In September, shipments will arrive to produce 1,350,000 vials, and in November, additional shipments will arrive to produce another 1,350,000 vials. He confirmed that the annual production capacity is 18 million vials, while the market and the Unified Procurement Authority require 13 million vials annually.
He explained that the insulin stock at SEDICO Pharmaceutical Company includes 93,000 fully manufactured vials, with 334,000 vials currently under production. The available raw materials are sufficient to produce 1.725 million vials, and materials under shipment are enough to produce 800,000 vials. The annual production capacity is 4.8 million vials.
He noted that the Egyptian state recognizes the strategic importance of the pharmaceutical industry and is making strong efforts to localize and deepen the localization of pharmaceutical industries, as well as to open markets for the Egyptian medical products abroad.
This comes within the framework of the Egyptian state’s efforts to ensure the continuous and permanent availability of high-priority medical products for citizens within the coming two weeks and to ensure that state institutions work interactively with industry partners to support investment and the localization and deepening of the pharmaceutical industry.