East African Examines How Ugandan Companies Are Manufacturing Antimalarial Drugs

The East African on Monday examined how companies in Uganda are seeking to "cash in on the country's $50 million a year malaria treatment market" by producing antimalarial drugs. According to the World Bank, Ugandans on average spend $20 annually per person on malaria treatments. Afro Alpine Pharma, a Ugandan company, has been harvesting Artemisia annua -- the plant from which artemisinin-based combination therapies are derived -- in southwestern Uganda and expects within two months to install a factory that will extract artemisinin from the leaves, the East African reports. Charles Mbiire, the director of Afro Alpine, said there are 700 tons of Artemisia in storage ready to be processed, and another 2,000 tons are expected from the second crop, which is to be harvested in January 2007. Under a five-year contract, Indian generic drug company Cipla will buy artemisinin extract from Afro Alpine. Cipla will then ship the manufactured ACTs back to Uganda and offer them at a cost of $2 per dose, according to the East African. Another Ugandan company, Quality Chemicals, also is working with Cipla to build a $16 million plant in the Uganda capital of Kampala that will produce ACTs and generic antiretroviral drugs. The plant is expected to be complete by March 2007, according to the East African. George Baguma, the marketing director for Quality Chemicals, said the initial phase of the plant is expected to be functioning by July 2007, and subsequent phases will bring the total cost of the plant to $50 million. Artemisnin extract initially will be exported to India, and, when Quality Chemical's plant is complete, the finished ACTs will be exported, the East African reports (Wakabi, East African, 7/31).