Jayasree K Iyer, CEO Access to Medicine Foundation/HANDOUTGeneric medicine manufacturers have a major opportunity to help close persistent gaps in access to essential medicines across Africa as healthcare needs evolve and the continent strengthens its pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity, a new report has found.
The report by the Access to Medicine Foundation examines how eight multinational and regional generic medicine manufacturers are responding to Africa’s changing healthcare needs, while identifying barriers limiting their ability to expand access.
The companies assessed are Aspen Pharmacare, Cipla, Emzor Pharmaceutical Industries, EVA Pharma, Hikma Pharmaceuticals, Sothema, Universal Corporation and Viatris.
The report says manufacturers are strengthening supply chains, expanding into new therapeutic areas and developing partnerships aimed at increasing local production capacity.
“Africa’s healthcare needs are evolving, and manufacturers across the ecosystem will play an important role in determining whether medicine supply evolves alongside them,” said Claudia Martínez, Director of Research at the Access to Medicine Foundation.
“Our research shows encouraging progress – from growing local manufacturing to the emergence of new partnership models – but also highlights that companies cannot succeed in isolation,” she said.
Martínez said coordinated action would be necessary to ensure medicines reach patients consistently and at scale.
The report comes as Africa faces a growing burden of non-communicable diseases alongside persistent challenges posed by infectious diseases and maternal health conditions.
It estimates that only one in two people living with type 1 diabetes in Africa has reliable access to insulin, while fragmented procurement systems continue to limit access to cardiovascular medicines in several countries.
The situation could become more challenging as non-communicable diseases are projected to become the leading cause of mortality in sub-Saharan Africa within the next five years.
The report says generic manufacturers, which produce about 80 per cent of medicines by volume globally, are already central to the supply of affordable medicines in African markets.
It identifies three broad strategies that manufacturers are pursuing to respond to unmet needs.
The first is strengthening the reliability of medicine supplies. Companies are investing in local production of active pharmaceutical ingredients where possible, while diversifying sourcing arrangements where local production is not yet feasible.
The second is expanding medicine portfolios to reflect changing disease patterns.
Several manufacturers are moving into priority areas such as cardiovascular diseases and diabetes while maintaining supplies of medicines for infectious diseases and maternal health, where access gaps have persisted for years.
The third is the development of new partnerships focused on strengthening local pharmaceutical capabilities.
While traditional market-access and distribution agreements remain important, the report identifies a growing emphasis on technology transfer, regulatory support and localised production.
Such partnerships could allow African manufacturers to acquire technical capabilities while creating more sustainable local supply chains.
However, manufacturers continue to face significant structural obstacles.
The report points to fragmented pharmaceutical markets, inconsistent procurement systems, differing regulatory requirements and uncertain demand across African countries.
These challenges make it difficult for companies, particularly emerging regional manufacturers, to forecast demand, plan production and justify investment in additional manufacturing capacity.
The Foundation says governments and other stakeholders therefore have an important role to play in creating conditions that encourage pharmaceutical investment.
It calls for greater coordination among manufacturers, governments, regulators, procurement agencies, development finance institutions and global health organisations.
According to the report, stronger regulatory harmonisation, increased regional trade and investment in pharmaceutical manufacturing could create a more supportive environment for local production.
The findings suggest that Africa's expanding pharmaceutical sector could play a crucial role in reducing dependence on external medicine supplies, while ensuring patients have more reliable access to affordable treatments.
But the report cautions that expanding production alone will not solve the continent's medicine access challenges.
Greater coordination, predictable procurement and stronger regulatory systems will be needed to enable manufacturers to invest sustainably and ensure that essential medicines reach underserved populations.
