Egypt's president inaugurates Gypto Pharma City, gets briefed on pharmaceuticals status

CAIRO – 1 April 2021: President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi inaugurated Thursday Gypto Pharma City spanning over 180,000 square meters, and consisting of plants that manufacture sterilized medicines, non-sterilized medicines, solid medicines, cancer treatment products, and medical equipment.

Chairman of the Gypto Pharma City located in Qalyoubiya governorate within Greater Cairo pointed out that warehouses in the city stretch over 7,000 square meters.

"We’re eager to produce effective drugs that are packed in appealing packaging," official at Gypto Pharma City noted.

At the beginning of the ceremony, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli delivered a speech saying that 400,000 anti-COVID-19 vaccine doses will arrive soon raising the figure to two million doses.

The prime minister highlighted that LE125 billion are invested by the private sector in the health sector, while LE35 billion are invested by the public sector. He added that Egypt has achieved self-sufficiency of drug production by 88 percent.

“We’re close to localizing insulin production so as we’re about to stop importing the product,” the prime minister added. "We target launching a plasma production factory by the end of 2022, Madbouli declared.

Chairman of Egyptian Drug Authority Tamer Essam highlighted that four laboratories have been launched by the government to enable private pharmaceutical companies to carry out R&D.

Essam underlined that Egypt is the top in the Middle East in producing hormones. "We produce 74% of our local consumption of hormones," chairman of Drug Authority said.

President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi said that work is underway to produce pharmaceutical raw materials.

“Sometimes it’s not just about making profit but about securing needs,” Sisi asserted stressing eagerness on reducing pharmaceutical imports, including inputs of production.

“We injected big investments in those plants [in Gypto Pharma City] to manufacture high-quality products. They were designed for that purpose,” the president underscored.

President Sisi checking plants in Gypto Pharma City. TV screenshot