Pharmaceutical Sovereignty
Over the past decades, the COVID-19 pandemic revealed the largest vulnerabilities of global health systems, one of which is the dependence of most of the African continent on external vaccines and medicine. Pharmaceutical sovereignty—priority medicines and vaccines being manufactured at national or regional levels—became Africa’s highest priority. In this context, Morocco emerged as a regional behemoth in the vanguard that would revolutionize the African pharmaceutical market and end dependence on foreign manufacturers.
Learn Pharmaceutical Sovereignty
Pharmaceutical sovereignty can be described as the ability of a nation to manufacture, control, and supply critical medicines and vaccines for its own consumption. It is more about access to low-cost and high-quality health commodities, especially during health emergencies. Dozens of years of dependence on multilateral drug firms by the majority of African countries have resulted in limited access to lifesaving medicine, stock-outs in the system, and costly medicine.
Pharmaceutical sovereignty is not convenient local production; it is robust infrastructure, human capital with technical capacity, enabling regulatory environments, and strategic partnership. Morocco, with the unique combination of geographical position, political stability, and investment in healthcare infrastructure, is best positioned to get continental on this ambition.
Morocco Bets All on a Strategic Position in Africa’s Pharma Market
The pharmaceutical sector in Morocco has also seen record growth in the last two decades. The active government policies, such as public-private partnership and investment promotion, have established a thriving pharmaceutical sector producing a wide array of generic drugs, vaccines, and healthcare products. Morocco is now one of Africa’s leading manufacturers of pharmaceuticals, with exports extending to several African countries and beyond.
Among the strength of Morocco is that it is strategically positioned as a bridge between Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. This makes it an effortless task to engage in trade and cooperation with Moroccan pharmaceutical industries since distribution centers in Africa. The realization that Morocco already has a free trade agreement with most African nations under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) also makes border distribution of medicine an effortless task.
Building Manufacturing Capacity: A Game Changer
Much progress has been achieved by Morocco in the building up of its vaccine and pharmaceuticals manufacturing capacity. Morocco has advanced pharmaceutical plants by global Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) standards, which are the bases of high-quality drug production of international standard.
Among the innovations in the industry are the construction of vaccine factories. Throughout the pandemic of COVID-19, Morocco leading the African continent in local vaccine production. Moroccan businesses ventured into local production of the COVID-19 vaccine with the help of international partners, significantly enhancing supply stability to the region.
This transition to local production is historic. It reduces the exposure of Africa to external shock from supply chain disruption and export prohibition by vaccine-producing countries in times of emergency. It is also capable of supporting rapid rollout of vaccines according to local epidemiologic priority.
Constructing Research and Development
Aside from production, Morocco has also made investments in research and development (R&D), improvement in pharmaceutical autonomy. There have been efforts to create partnerships between research institutions, pharmaceutical companies, and universities geared towards the development of new drugs in addition to the alteration of drugs that are already present.
Morocco’s research facilities have placed more focus on the African endemic conditions, such as malaria, tuberculosis, and the neglected tropical diseases. This is owing to the fact that the health requirements of the continent are unique to it, a deviation from the one size fits all reliance on medications for Western markets that are predominantly developed for them.
Morocco’s R&D initiative also includes the production of biosimilars—affordable biologic drugs therapeutically similar to expensive branded biologics—and thereby making newer drugs accessible.
Regional Leadership and Cooperation
Morocco’s pharma independence is not within its own walls but extends to visionary regional leadership. Morocco has stepped up to lead the charge towards harmonizing African regulation for quicker approval and prescription of drugs in the continent.
Moreover, Morocco is also engaged in capacity development of pharmaceutical technicians and health practitioners at the regional level. By experience and transfer of technology, Morocco contributes to making efforts towards enhanced total capacities of the entire African continent as a whole, towards an integrated and independent African pharmaceutical sector.
Challenges and the Way Forward
Though Morocco’s success is in multitudes, on the horizon were hidden challenges. Uncontaminated pharma sovereignty shall require colossus spending in infrastructure, regulation, and human capital. Relying on Asian imports, such as China and India, to snap access to raw materials, such as active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), is typical. Flexing this bottle-neck would be the vanguard of independence sustainability.
Moreover, the continental regulatory space of African nations remains in pieces with multiple standards that deter cross-border trade. Morocco’s offensive to harmonize will have to be complemented and accompanied by more robust pan-continental institutions such as the African Medicines Agency (AMA).
Lastly, promotion and support of local production and maintaining medicines affordable to a cost from the people is a delicate weighing. Public policy will have to continue supporting local producers without compromising access.
