AstraZeneca CEO believes Egypt has made great strides in industry A $32-million factory was officially opened Monday in 6th of October city by international pharmaceutical behemoth AstraZeneca, the first plant built by the company in the Middle East. The plant boasts three production lines over 7000 square meters with an output of 250 million tablets a year, which can later be increased to 400 million. The plant will produce cardiovascular, psychiatric and oncology (cancer) drugs. In an interview with The Daily Star Egypt, AstraZeneca CEO David Brennan said the climate in Egypt was now conducive for this sort of investment. "The new Egyptian economic policies have created an excellent climate he said. Brennan had earlier said in the press conference for the inauguration, with Minister of Health and Population Hatem El-Gabaly in attendance, that Egypt has made great strides in the pharmaceutical industry and AstraZeneca had been greatly encouraged by the Ministry's reforming of the price system and adopting the WTO "TRIPS agreement which protects intellectual property rights. The Egyptian drug industry is worth LE 8.6 billion a year and is second only to South Africa in the continent. AstraZeneca earned $23 billion in healthcare sales for 2005. For his part El-Gabaly said in his speech "This is a symbol of our policy in attracting investment and turning it into something tangible. Foreign investment is a partner in the growth of the Egyptian economy just as much as local investment. Brennan told reporters there is a great opportunity for growth in the Egyptian market and AstraZeneca has positioned itself properly in the last few years to take advantage of this. He told The Daily Star Egypt "We have a wide variety of products and there is differentiation in the product line. For example our product Atacand treats heart failure and high blood pressure. We have a strong research and development department in (the areas of) cardiovascular and oncology treatments. Brennan added that the company has made a commitment to prepare its business for emerging markets, Egypt included, to help them develop. "I think what we saw (here) was an opportunity to see what happens. There's more demand in emerging markets and the pharmaceutical industry is placed to (partake) in that. Good macro-economic policies lead to good GDP (for emerging markets), he told the Daily Star Egypt. AstraZeneca's Executive Vice President of Operations David Smith told The Daily Star Egypt "We have been pretty impressed by the talent and diversity we have seen here in Egypt. They are committed and energetic.they want to get things done. Many of AstraZeneca's products will be produced by the new plant and available for the Egyptian market, including the heart medicine Nexium and the psychiatric drug Seroquel, which will have a sustained release over the year.
