A growing market for
sterile-manufactured pharmaceuticals

Egypt depends on the import of medicines

Egypt is the largest producer and the largest market of pharmaceuticals in the Middle East and Africa. In 2021, medicines worth 5.4 billion euros were sold. However, most of the medicines sold in Egypt are imported. Although sales prices are regulated by the government, price fluctuations on the world markets have led to some medicines becoming significantly more expensive in recent years. This is a particular burden on lower income households who do not have sufficient insurance cover. Shortages have also already occurred for some products. The government has therefore set the goal of strengthening the domestic pharmaceutical industry and increasing production volumes.

Prescription drugs account for 80 per cent of sales in Egypt. Generics make up a large part of this, as they are cheaper than the original products. However, Egypt continues to be dependent on imported products, especially for medicines that have been sterilely packaged or filled – a market segment with sales revenues of about 850 million euros in 2021.

AUG Pharma invests in a sterile production facility for medicines

AUG Pharma, which has been in existence since 2006, is one of the top 10 Egyptian pharmaceutical companies with a market share of around 2 per cent. It produces medical products, medicines, and food supplements in Cairo with around 1,000 employees. The drugs are mainly generics. Sansovit and Sanso Immune are two vitamin and nutritional supplements that are market leaders with a market share of up to 80 per cent in their segment. The increasing demand for the products manufactured by AUG Pharma will soon bring the existing facilities to full capacity.

To meet the growing demand, AUG Pharma is investing in the construction of a sterile production and filling plant for medicines in solid and liquid form. Eight different products for which AUG Pharma already has valid licences and approvals from the Egyptian Ministry of Health are to be produced there. The approval process is currently underway for nine additional products. The investment project will help grow the domestic market for sterile drugs.

New jobs in production, marketing, and administration

To operate the new facilities, 152 people will be hired after the two-year investment phase is completed. In addition, up to 263 jobs in marketing, administration and production management will be created within three years. Most of the new jobs will go to young professionals aged up to 24. At full capacity, it will be possible to fill up to 30 million vials and ampules, 8 million syringes and cartridges, 26 million bottles and 112 million sachets annually. The new factory will have a usable area of 5,200 square meters on three floors. In addition, there will be a new materials warehouse and the expansion of a currently unused factory area.

AUG Pharma plans to invest a total of 24.2 million euros. The Facility Investing for Employment grants a subsidy of 3.3. million euros (13 %) to finance a part of the new production facility. The investment phase, which includes the construction measures and the acquisition of the new machines, is to be completed after two years.

The Facility Investing for Employment (IFE) of KfW Development Bank is part of the Special Initiative "Decent Work for a Just Transition" of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). With its support, the Facility wants to remove barriers that prevent the creation of new and better jobs in the private sector in the African partner countries.