African Development Bank unveils the African Pharmaceutical Technology Foundation at the 2nd International Conference on Public Health in Africa | African Development Bank

The African Development Bank Group has formally launched its new initiative that will join hands with the African Union to increase Africa’s capacity to produce medicines, vaccines, diagnostics and therapies across the value chain, helping its pharmaceutical sector build up.

The African Pharmaceutical Technology Foundation (APTF) was the focus of a forum hosted by the African Development Bank under the theme “Accessing Technology for Pharmaceutical Manufacturing: The African Pharmaceutical Technology Foundation.” The event was part of the 2^na International Conference on Public Health in Africa in Kigali, Rwanda, on Dec. 14.

According to the African Development Bank, the continent imports more than 70% of the medicines it needs at a cost of $14 billion a year. Changing the game to enable African countries to develop their ability to produce pharmaceuticals has strategic and economic public health reasons.

“This new initiative comes as a solution, as most [African] countries still face problems in receiving [medicines] on time,” noted Dr. Yvan Butera, Rwandan Minister of Health. The Foundation, hosted by the Government of Rwanda in Kigali, is expected to become operational in early 2023.

In his opening remarks, Mr. Solomon Quaynor, Vice President for Private Sector, Infrastructure and Industrialization at the African Development Bank Group, said Covid-19 has exposed the gaps in Africa’s healthcare system.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed the fragility of global health systems and the gaps in the production of critical medicines on the continent.” He added: “The APTF is a pioneering institution that will significantly improve Africa’s access to technologies underpinning the production of pharmaceuticals.”

At the event, Prof. Padmashree Gehl Sampath, Special Advisor on Pharmaceuticals and Health Infrastructure to Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, president of the African Development Bank Group, stressed that the Foundation is designed to help African countries bridge the technological gaps in sustainable domestic production.

Lecturer. Sampath said, “Pharmaceutical companies in Africa face three specific barriers to technology access: access to technology and related know-how for manufacturing, mobilization of domestic resources for technology upgrades, and the lack of opportunities for horizontal and vertical product diversification. Many technology risks need to be mitigated to build the African pharmaceutical sector, including moving away from a product-by-product approach that puts African companies at risk.”

The co-chair of the World Health Organization (WHO) International Negotiating Group on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response, Dr. Precious Matsoso, reflected on how important technology issues are for preparing for future pandemics. She said the establishment of the African Pharmaceutical Technology Foundation would provide “much-needed support to address technology barriers to fair access.”

Dr. Richard Hatchett, Chief Executive Officer of the Coalition of Epidemic Preparedness Initiative, described the creation of the Foundation as “timely” given the experience of Covid-19, emphasizing that the initiative will “help save lives across the continent” .

Approved by the Board of Governors of the African Development Bank in June 2022, the Foundation is expected to increase Africa’s access to technology for the production of the full range of pharmaceutical products, with a focus on building supply chains and expanding access to different types of building block technologies.

The Foundation will also serve as a transparent intermediary that promotes and mediates the interests of the African pharmaceutical sector on the global stage, to improve access to proprietary technologies, know-how and related industrial processes, through licensing and other market-based and non-market mechanisms .

The WHO, the Coalition on Epidemic Preparedness, the South Centre, Geneva and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Co-operation and Development have expressed strong interest in working with the Foundation over the coming year.

Another panellist, Prof. Carlos Correa, Executive Director of South Centre, Geneva, said it is important for Africa to have its own framework that will enable its pharmaceutical industry to develop. He said: “Intellectual property grants monopolies, and these monopolies give property owners the right to control technology sharing. It is important to create the capacity to enable timely technology transfer to Africa.”

Panelists stressed the need to build partnerships between African pharmaceutical companies and their counterparts in other continents, such as Europe.

Brigit Pickel, the director-general for Africa at Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, said Covid-19 has refocused attention on how to improve local production of critical health products. Germany welcomes the establishment of the APTF and its vital role in addressing the bottlenecks in technology and market development, she added.

Lecturer. Fredrick Abbott, Edward Ball Eminent Scholar, Florida State University, USA, spoke about how to create a truly successful pharmaceutical industry: “You have to focus on managing intellectual property in the broad sense of the word…promoting joint ventures such as those that have facilitated the creation of many Covid-19 vaccines.”