Gilead Sciences considers producing Hep C drug in Egypt

CAIRO – 19 May 2017: U.S. Company Gilead Sciences for Pharmaceutical Production is considering producing a new Hepatitis C drug in Egypt in cooperation with one of the Egyptian pharmaceutical companies, Minister of Trade and Industry Tarek Kabil announced in a Thursday statement.

The minister pointed out that the U.S. company aims to benefit from the Egyptian market to be a productive and marketing hub for the African continent markets.

Kabil said that the new drug is currently not in production. The American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is scheduled to get final approvals for its production during August 2017.

He also said that the company also aims to produce other products in Egypt and export them to African markets such as drugs for the treatment of fatty liver and a number of other dangerous viruses spread across the continent.

The American Sciences cure rate of the new drug is up to 98 percent and the treatment period takes about two months, said the director of the U.S. company in Africa, Graeme Robertson.

Robertson pointed out that Egypt is the only African country that has the required potential and infrastructural suitability for the production of Hepatitis C drugs.