PFIZER OPENS OFFICES IN NAMIBIA

Pfizer, the largest drug company in the world, has opened offices in Namibia and plans to launch a clinical trials laboratory there serving both Namibia and Botswana, the Namibia Economist reports.

"By being local we can interact more with local pharmacies, hospitals and doctors, and give the best products that we can," Richard Paulsen, a Pfizer official, told the newspaper. The company also considered factors such as Namibia's strong economy and stability when deciding to open offices there, according to the article.

The Pfizer branch "will be of great benefit to the health system of this country," Kalumbi Shangula, a Ministry of Health official, said at the ribbon cutting. " [B]est practices in the area of clinical research trails is indeed a much-needed expertise in the developing world," he told the press.

Pfizer already has a relationship with Namibia through its program providing free antifungal drugs to developing countries, according to the article. The company's drug Diflucan is for treating AIDS-related opportunistic infections, including Oesophageal candidiasis and Cryptococcal meningitis, and is on the World Health Organization List of essential medicines.