Cipla Quality Chemical Industries Limited (CiplaQCIL) recently acquired approval to manufacture and distribute lifesaving ARVs and anti-malarial drugs to the Ecowas and Zazibona regions in Africa.
The company was approved to market antiretrovirals and anti-malaria medicines such as efavirenz 600 mg; lamivudine 300 mg; tenofovir 300 mg Artemether 20 mg; lumefantrine 120 mg tablets, and tenofovir 300mg/lamivudine 300mg/dolutegravir 50mg (TLD) tablets.
The medicines will be manufactured and delivered to the region with immediate effect.
CiplaQCIL’s chief executive officer, Nevin Bradford said for the first time, a manufacturer from East Africa has received approval to supply lifesaving medicines to the ECOWAS regulatory authority.
"The approval from the regulatory authority not only bestows a vote of confidence in CiplaQCIL but also in Uganda’s pharmaceutical industry as a whole," he said.
The approval opens doors for CiplaQCIL to gain entry into new markets such as Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Cote d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo, Liberia, Namibia, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania and South Africa.
"We recently upgraded our manufacturing facility which will be able to meet the increased volumes following this approval and hence making CiplaQCIL into one of the largest pharmaceutical in Africa. We are proud to be able to produce quality, affordable medicine in Africa, for Africa in line with our ethos of ‘caring for life," said Bradford.