The multi-million dollar plant is being constructed in Special Economic Zone where the first phase will be completed in 18 months.
The biotech industry will have a diverse portfolio of over 100 essential medicines that will include general medicines and consumer healthcare products.
In the first year of operation, the plant is expected to employ over 100 local staff for them to be able to acquire skills and expertise about pharmaceuticals production.
Speaking to IGIHE, Health Minister, Dr. Diane Gashumba said that Rwanda imports 90% of drugs used in the country. She said that the plant will help the country close the gap for importation of drugs which costs much money.
“Drugs which will be produced here will be cheap and of better quality. The plant will also provide jobs to many people and facilitate availability of drugs on time. It happens that shipping drugs takes longer or some drugs get out of stock before ordered consignments are delivered to us,” she said.
She said that the plant will produce different varieties of drugs including antibiotics, pain killers, malaria drugs, tuberculosis drugs and HIV/AIDS antiretroviral drugs among others.
“They will produce all these types of drugs, but, they will need to follow international standards,” she added.
Gashumba said that every year, Rwanda spends at least Rwf30 billion to import, stocking and distributing drugs to different health facilities across the country.
“We spend at least Rwf25 billion for buying drugs. If we had more local plants, we would reduce the cost of imports,” she added.
Ministry of Health says that currently, four plants have expressed interest in producing pharmaceuticals in Rwanda.
Apex Biotech Ltd Managing Director, Dr Masroor Ehsan said that they will produce quality drugs as they will have decent quality testing measurements which follow international standards.
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