The Spanish Grifols, world leader in the production of plasma-derived medicines and transfusion medicine, has landed in Egypt through the great gate. Its two CEOs have been received by the president of the Arab country, Field Marshal Abdelfatah al Sisi, and the staff of the military establishment to forge a strategic alliance that, with the army as a partner, will allow build 20 plasma centers and production facilities in the land of the pharaohs.
“President Al Sisi has stressed the vital priority this project has for Egypt”His office pointed out in a statement sent to EL MUNDO.” He has given orders to speed up the implementation of the entire process, “the note indicates. The president, who usually limits his meetings with foreign businessmen to large corporations energy or automobile companies, has presided over the signing of the agreement together with the Prime Minister, the Minister of Health, senior officials of the armed forces and their closest advisers.In representation of the Catalan company, their two CEOs, Raimon Grifols and VÃctor Grifols Deu.
The contract assumes the creation of a “joint venture” owned by Grifols at 49%. The rest of the shareholding will be in the hands of the National Products and Services Organization (NSPO), a company owned by the Egyptian Ministry of Defense established more than four decades ago with the goal of “achieving self-sufficiency in the basic needs of the armed forces.” Since the arrival of Al Sisi to the palace, the economic fabric of the army has been expanding its already extensive catalog of products and services. Some experts estimate that the uniformed control up to 40 percent of local GDP, a figure rejected by the regime.
The company that emerged from the agreement will have a board of directors made up of an equal number of members from both firms and will need the “unanimous consent of both shareholders” to approve measures related to “a broad list of issues.” Both shareholders will assume in equal parts the total investment of approximately 300 million dollars through “capital contributions based on the specific needs required by each phase of the project”. An initial joint investment of $ 20 million will be made upon the formation of the joint venture.
According to the Spanish multinational, a member of the Ibex35 that is also listed on the Nasdaq, the agreement makes Grifols “a strategic partner and reference of the Egyptian government and advances in its commitment to continue supporting countries to achieve higher levels of plasma drug self-sufficiency for the benefit of patients. “” We are very pleased to be part of a strategic alliance that will contribute to the development of the Egyptian health system, “says VÃctor GrÃfols in the company’s statement.
The agreement, which Cairo wants to execute against the clock in the middle of a situation marked by the spread of Covid-19 and the search for vaccines, includes the development, construction and operation of 20 plasma donation centers -with a initial capacity to obtain 600,000 liters of plasma per year- and production facilities, including a fractionation plant – capable of fractionating up to 1 million liters of plasma per year – and a purification and dosing plant, along with a warehouse and an analysis laboratory. The plan is estimated to be operational within five years.
Involved personally in the project, Al Sisi has shown in public “the need to immediately start the establishment of plasma donation centers and establish an effective and precise mechanism to guarantee the efficiency of the performance in collaboration with Grifols”. The pharmaceutical company will provide the engineering expertise, technology, training or services “in exchange for fees and royalties agreed between the parties”The details of which have not been disclosed. He will also be in charge of the supervision and control over the quality and safety of the facilities.
Egypt, with a population that exceeds 100 million inhabitants and a precarious health system, began in April the trial of treating Covid-19 patients with plasma from individuals who had overcome the virus. According to Health Minister Hala Zayed, the tests have been a success and their initial results are “promising”. According to the recently signed agreement, Grifols assumes immediately and until the production plants are at full capacity, “the processing of plasma obtained in Egypt into plasma-derived products to meet the country’s short-term needs” .
With the alliance, the network of companies linked to the Egyptian army expands its already vast service record in a strategic sector and Grifols strengthens its presence in the Middle East and Africa after consolidating its power in the United States and Europe and betting heavily on China. The entry into Egypt also opens up other potential markets in the region. “It is a new and important step in our sustainable growth strategy”, emphasizes GrÃfols Deu.
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