Biogaran, a French pharmaceutical company specialised in generic and biosimilar medicines, on Friday, March 24, 2017 announced the takeover of all the activities of Swipha, a Nigerian company that manufactures and distributes pharmaceutical products. The firm sees the development as an important step forward in its internationalisation, as well as the development of new markets.
The Biogaran portfolio is said to be mainly focused on three families of products: anti-anxiety and tranquillisers, antimalarial drugs and antibiotics, which treat Nigeria’s most widespread infections and health issues.
Swipha was the first Nigerian pharmaceutical company to obtain ISO 9001 certification in 2007. Approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2014, Swipha employs 300 people locally and generated record sales of N4 billion (approximately € 20 million) in 2012. Beyond its production unit, the company also has a wide distribution network covering most parts of Nigeria, with more than 184 million inhabitants in 2016, according to the IMF.
Health issues are particularly important in Africa. Beyond significant needs for good quality, affordable and efficient medicines, the problem of counterfeits is also becoming of concern. The WHO estimates that 100,000 deaths are due to fake medicines in Africa every year. In this context, supplying Nigeria’s population with reliable medicines that are produced locally is a strong commitment made by Biogaran.
“Biogaran’s international expansion strategy is to create synergies by bringing its expertise and investment capacity in production tools to existing structures,” commented Pascal Brière, President of Biogaran. “Swipha’s know-how, network and reputation have immediately convinced us that it was the right partner for us. Likewise, Nigeria quickly came out as the best entry point on the African continent with its strong population and solid economic fundamentals, including a very dynamic market economy.”
