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Biogaran takes over Swipha’s activities in Nigeria to produce generic drugs for the local market

A strong commitment to make high-quality, effectiveinexpensive drugs available to patients

28 March 2017 – Biogaran, a French pharmaceutical company specialized in generic and biosimilar drugs, and a subsidiary of Servier, today announced the takeover of all the activities of Swipha, a Nigerian company that manufactures and distributes pharmaceutical products known for their quality. This is an important step forward in internationalization of the French company Biogaran.

In order to develop new markets to meet its commitment to provide all patients with quality medication, Biogaran, a pioneer in generics and a subsidiary of Servier, has just taken over Swipha, a Nigerian pharmaceutical company that produces generics to meet local health needs. Its portfolio is mainly focused on three families of products which treat Nigeria’s most widespread infections and health issues: antimalarial drugs and antibiotics, anti-anxiety and tranquillizers.

Nigeria is the largest economy in Africa and its most populated country (184 million inhabitants in 2016 according to the IMF).

Swipha was the first Nigerian pharmaceutical company to obtain ISO 9001 certification in 2007. Approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2014, Swipha employs 300 people locally and generated record sales of NGN 4bn (approximately € 20 million) in 2012. Beyond its production unit, the company also has a wide distribution network covering most parts of Nigeria.

Health issues are particularly important in Africa. Beyond significant needs for good quality, inexpensive and effective 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[1]. 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 to existing structures”, commented Pascal Brière, President of Biogaran. “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; Swipha’s know-how, reputation and network have immediately convinced us that it was the right partner for us.”

About Biogaran
Biogaran is a French pharmaceutical company specialised in generics and biosimilars. Founded in 1996, it has become the French leader in generics with a market share of 27.5%. Over the year 2015-2016, Biogaran achieved a net turnover of € 700 million with 270 million units sold. Biogaran is present in Brazil through the company Pharlab. It is a full subsidiary of Servier.

www.biogaran.fr

About Servier
Servier is an international pharmaceutical company governed by a Foundation and headquartered in Suresnes (France). With a strong international presence in 148 countries and a turnover of 4 billion euros in 2016, Servier employs 21,000 people worldwide. Corporate growth is driven by Servier’s constant search for innovation in five areas of excellence: cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancers, immune-inflammatory diseases, and neurodegenerative diseases, as well as by its activities in high-quality generic drugs. Being completely independent, without any shareholders, the Group reinvests 25% of its turnover, excluding generics, in Research and Development and uses all of its profits to generate growth.

Servier
Karine Bousseau
Servier External Communications
Tel: +33 1 55 72 60 37
Email: media@servier.com

35°Nord – Media relations agency
Nicolas Teisserenc
Tel: +33 6 18 09 66 90
Email: nt@35nord.com