South Africa Healthcare Research

The Department of Science & Innovation, the Technology Innovation Agency, and North-West University announced the establishment of a Local Manufacturing Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) Technology Innovation Cluster. The cluster will support the development of the South African pharmaceutical manufacturing industry and enable access to critical and modern drugs through innovative and world-class processing technology. South Africa currently spends around R15 billion (approx USD 900 million) annually on imported API’s, and is heavily dependent on sourcing finished pharmaceutical products and APIs from third countries.

The initial joint R13 million investment to establish the API Cluster will encourage  technology development and  commercialization of API manufacturing by concentrating on the synthesis of small molecule APIs for human health using modern manufacturing technology. U.S. companies in the field of pharmaceutical research are encouraged to consider this market. 

For more information contact office.johannesburg@trade.gov.