Question NW1559 to the Minister of Health

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29 November 2019 - NW1559

Profile picture: Gondwe, Dr M

Gondwe, Dr M to ask the Minister of Health

What progress has his department made in establishing Ketlaphela, the state-owned pharmaceutical company that will supply anti-retroviral drugs to his department as the former President, Mr Jacob G Zuma, announced during the state of the nation address in 2016?

Reply:

The establishment of the State-owned company Ketlaphela was led by the Department of Science and Technology. The initial plans were to establish a State-owned active pharmaceutical ingredients company producing the API’s for the widely used ARVs. After the expression of interest advert for companies to partner on API production, there was no economically viable proposal.

The project has since been taken over by NECSA with a change in focus towards medicines formulation and packaging as an initial step toward final API production. The business case in this regard suggests that this approach would be economically viable. The Department of Energy would be able to provide full details regarding progress with Ketlaphela given that it is now with that Department.

END.

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