SANOFI-AVENTIS OFFICIALLY LAUNCHES THE GLOBAL TB MANUFACTURING
PLANT
Mar 08, 2010
Issued by: Sanofi-Aventis
Sanofi-aventis, a leading global pharmaceutical company,
discovers, develops and distributes therapeutic solutions to
improve the lives of communities across the socio-economic
spectrum.
The company's major therapeutic areas include Vaccines, TB,
Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases, Oncology, Anti-infectives and
Neutraceuticals.
Sanofi-aventis prides itself as a company that is socially and
economically relevant to South Africa. As the leading multinational
pharmaceutical company in South Africa, sanofi-aventis is one of
the largest employers in the industry and one of a few
multinational companies with a local manufacturing plant.
The company has a strong commitment in the area of Tuberculosis
(TB) - a disease that poses big challenges to South Africans and
the healthcare system - by investing human and financial resources
in Research and Development, manufacturing of TB treatments, and
control and management of the disease.
The sanofi-aventis Group designated the South African
affiliate's manufacturing factory in Waltloo, Tshwane, as the
global TB drug centre of excellence and made funding available for
the construction of the a TB global hub, which manufactures and
supplies TB medicines to South Africa, SADC countries and key
markets globally.
The R20million project was undertaken to expand the plant's
capacity to analyse, manufacture and pack TB Drugs. A further
R5million was invested to build a new wing for the manufacturing of
self-care (OTC) products. The TB factory expansion project has
allowed sanofi-aventis to increase capacity in TB drug
manufacturing to 350 million tablets and capsules per year.
An additional R3 million was invested in infrastructural
upgrades for the manufacturing of ARV's for a third party company.
Sanofi-aventis developed the fixed dose combination drug for TB
at the Mamelodi factory, and is currently involved in Research and
Development in a number of projects in the TB area, including
research to shorten TB treatment duration.
The factory expansion initiatives are aligned to the
government's planned National Industrial Policy, where the
pharmaceutical sector has been identified as a lead sector for
economic growth - including the Industrial Policy Action Plan
(IPAP2) tabled by Department of Trade and Industry Minister, Dr Rob
Davies in Parliament on the 18th of February 2010.The factory
expansions have resulted in sanofi-aventis being able to create new
employment opportunities during a period of economic downturn,
employing an additional 100 employees, bringing the total to 300
people employed at the factory.
A number of these employees were sourced from the company's
Chemical Ops 1 and 2 learnerships pool, which is accredited by the
SETA. Through this project the Company has placed and trained a
total of 82 learners from 2004, of whom 30 were unemployed (section
18.2) learners, Most of these learners are now employed - giving
real and measurable meaning to Skills Development as espoused in
the BBBEE Codes and Objectives.
In response to Government's transformation policy,
sanofi-aventis formed a joint venture with a BEE partner (Litha
Healthcare Investments) to form Sisonke Pharmaceuticals. Through
this BEE partnership sanofi-aventis was in 2009 appointed the
largest supplier of TB medicines to the government.
A R150million donation from sanofi-aventis created a partnership
between sanofi-aventis, the Department of Health and the Nelson
Mandela Foundation resulting in a project called TB FREE - which
directly supports and augments the Department of Health's National
TB Control Programme. This project started in 2004, and has already
trained 35 000 DOTS (Directly Observed Therapy Supporters) in all
nine provinces and implemented various TB and Social Mobilization
initiatives with the Department of Health's TB Control Programme
both at national and provincial levels. These two major TB FREE
activities provide the much needed support to the Department of
Health's National TB Control Programme, by ensuring increased cure
rates in TB patients who are supported by the trained DOT
supporters, and increased awareness about the TB disease, free
testing and TB treatment offered by Government, and the fact that
TB is curable when treatment is adhered to and completed.
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