The pharmaceutical sector has taken a new turn with the installation of Propharm. This generic drug manufacturing company is the very first in Burkina Faso and is estimated to cost 15 billion CFA francs. The ceremony to inaugurate this jewel took place on Monday 22 August in the presence of the Burkinabe Prime Minister Albert Ouédraogo.
Propharm, a completely private industry.
Financed by Burkinabe and sub-regional capital, Propharm cost 15 billion CFA francs. For its beginning, the factory will produce three generic medicines, including paracetamol, and in the long term a dozen others will follow. With its large production capacity, Propharm can ensure the supply of generic drugs to neighbouring WAEMU countries.
Pharmacists and financier behind Propharm.
Although the Propharm industry is supported by the Burkinabe government, the initiative for this project was taken by a group of professional pharmacists led by Palingwindé Armel Koéfé, the general manager of Propharm. According to him, the company was born out of a meeting between pharmacists and financiers.
“There was a marriage between these two groups that resulted in Propharm. We have a complete chain that allows us to do granulation, mixing, capsule filling, compression, coating, etc. This is done in an atmosphere that is controlled, so germs, particles, temperature, humidity, pressure, everything is controlled. This is done in a controlled atmosphere, so germs, particles, temperature, humidity, pressure, everything is controlled and this unit was ‘designed’ by Italians. The equipment was acquired in the United States, in Texas to be precise.
The State has played its part in favouring the installation of Propharm!
The government’s support has been far-reaching in promoting the establishment of the Propharm industry and facilitating its activities,” acknowledges Palingwindé Armel Koéfé.
” We benefit from state support in terms of approval for the investment code. So this approval gives us a number of tax exemptions”. As far as this approval is concerned, it should be extended over the next seven years, explains Palingwindé Armel Koéfé.
In a highly competitive environment, Propharm intends to assert itself.
“The product, in its current state, with all the charges and costs, is competitive,” says Palingwindé Armel Koéfé, the general manager of Propharm, reassuringly, despite the competition.
“The margins we make are not huge, because we are in a market where there are a lot of drugs coming from India or China that are very difficult to compete with,” he said.
