Julphar and EPA partner to bring to Addis Ababa the GMP Conference

The panel of experts will tackle the factors necessary to establish a sustainable quality healthcare platform.

In a step that reflects the growing importance of the Ethiopian Healthcare Sector, Julphar, the leading UAE global pharmaceutical company, have partnered with the Ethiopian Pharmaceutical Association (EPA) to bring to Addis Ababa the inaugural Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) Conference, which kicked off today in the Capital.

Chaired by Mr Mukemil Abdella from Julphar and Mr Tsegaye G from EPA, this two-day forum will discuss the importance of good manufacturing practices across the Manufacturing sector in Africa, as well as the emerging opportunities and challenges for local manufacturers to become GMP compliant.  It brings  together industry experts, physicians, policy makers and regulators from across the region to discuss in a series of forums the factors necessary for improving Quality in Healthcare.

Some of the topics covered in the forums are Supply Chain Management, Equipment for Granulation Process and Tablet covering, WHO Global efforts in ensuring quality products and opportunities/challenges for GMP Compliance for domestic manufacturers.

Commenting on the event, Dr Ayman Sahli, Julphar CEO said “This is a highly strategic conference that has the potential to advance the quality of manufacturing in the region. The renowned panel of experts who will gather in Addis Ababa will tackle all the prerequisites for establishing a sustainable Healthcare platform, which will help countries throughout Africa provide better health services to their communities.”

This is not the first time the EPA and Julphar have collaborated. Last year, Julphar took part in the annual EPA conference, where Julphar arranged two weeks hands-on training in the UAE for five academically meritorious graduate students from five universities of Ethiopia through the association.

In 2013 Julphar established its first manufacturing plant outside the UAE, in Addis Ababa. The facility – Julphar Pharmaceuticals PLC – offers a comprehensive portfolio of high quality, affordable pharmaceutical products which are distributed in Ethiopia, with expansion plans for additional capacity and exports. The plant is currently producing tablets, capsules and syrups and employs around 130 local staff.

“We plan to expand our manufacturing base in Ethiopia and are looking to explore future partnerships with African governments, regulatory bodies, NGO’s, finance institutions and healthcare providers in order to expand our investment footprint across the Continent.” said Sahli.

Julphar was launched in 1980 as a generic pharmaceutical company in the UAE. In 2012, the company made inroads into biotechnology with the launch of a $150m manufacturing facility in the UAE, entirely dedicated to producing the raw material needed for biosimilar products. Today, this facility is the only plant in the MEA region that produces insulin using insulin crystals derived from r-DNA technology.