South Africa to Boost Domestic Production of ARVs

According to the South African business daily Business Report, South Africa’s Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) will spend approximately $690 million on domestic production of antiretrovirals (ARVs) over the next three years. 

South Africa has the capacity to manufacture most ARVs, but the country imports all of its active pharmaceuticals ingredients. State procurement can encourage the domestic manufacturing of the ingredients, according to Andrew Kudlinski, the director for geographic projects at the DTI.

Nimrod Zalk, the chief director of industrial policy at the DTI, said the government was concerned about the import ratio in the drugs sector. The sector was worth $2.3 billion last year, according to Business Report.

The paper recently reported that the draft study on the state of the pharmaceuticals industry in the country found that the sector was shrinking.