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UGANDAN FIRMS TO BEGIN MANUFACTURING MALARIA DRUGS

August 1, 2006

Uganda's pharmaceutical sector is moving to cash in on the country's $50 million malaria treatment market. The World Bank estimates that each Ugandan on average spends $20 a year on malaria treatment, along with an annual per-capita public health expenditure of $3.

Afro Alpine Pharma, which has been growing artemisia in the southwestern Ugandan district of Kabale, says it expects to complete installation of an ingredient extraction plant in two months.

Another company, Quality Chemicals, has teamed up with India-based Cipla Pharmaceuticals to build a plant that will manufacture artemether combination therapies, as well as generic HIV drugs. Construction of the $16 million plant is already under way in Kampala's Luzira Industrial Park, and completion is scheduled for March 2007.

Artemisinin is one of two ingredients used in the manufacture of artemisinin combination therapy, the World Health Organization-recommended frontline treatment for malaria in countries where the efficacy of traditional treatments has declined. These therapies typically combine artemether and one or two other drugs to combat resistant strains of the disease.