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BIOCAD Launches Technology Transfer in Algeria in Partnership with SAIDAL

BIOCAD Launches Technology Transfer in Algeria in Partnership with SAIDAL

Biotechnology company BIOCAD is launching technology transfer in Algeria with the support of industrial group SAIDAL, specializing in the production of  biosimilar and generic drugs. This collaboration includes the transfer of manufacturing technologies for rituximab, bevacizumab, trastuzumab, and other drugs in the future.

The People's Democratic Republic of Algeria is one of the most significant countries for BIOCAD in terms of supply and market introduction of new pharmaceutical products. In 2022, BIOCAD successfully implemented the transfer of secondary packaging for rituximab and trastuzumab. In 2023, the localization of packaging for drugs such as bevacizumab, darbepoetin, and eculizumab is also planned, along with the technology transfer of production from the technological solution (ready-to-fill drug) of rituximab and bevacizumab, followed by the release and validation of initial batches. In the future, all five drugs will be produced using this technology.

As part of the active measures taken by the government to ensure the availability of cancer treatment drugs in Algeria, a partnership between BIOCAD and SAIDAL Group was established in 2022 to ensure the availability of innovative drugs approved in many countries over the past three years.

"As part of the partnership, BIOCAD has already conducted a series of visits and training at SAIDAL's production facilities to ensure compliance with all conditions for working with biosimilars, including temperature control and visual inspection requirements for vials. In 2022, the volume of shipments exceeded $11 million and is expected to exceed $13 million in 2023. This includes biosimilars such as rituximab, trastuzumab, and bevacizumab. The technology transfer will improve accessibility and accelerate the market entry process for vital therapies for the citizens of Algeria," says Alexey Torgov, Deputy CEO for Corporate Relations and Communications at BIOCAD.

BIOCAD has been actively collaborating with African countries since 2015 and currently supplies its key biosimilar products for the treatment of cancer based on monoclonal antibodies to seven African countries: Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Uganda, Kenya, Senegal, and Ivory Coast. In 2022, the total volume of company supplies to African regions reached approximately $30 million. During the first half of 2023, the volume reached $18 million.

It is worth noting that the number of detected cancer cases in Africa is steadily increasing, with approximately 1.06 million new cases each year. It is expected that this figure will increase by 102% (2.12 million) by 2040. The mortality rate compared to the incidence rate is significantly higher compared to high-income countries, as around 80% of patients in Africa are diagnosed at an advanced stage of cancer. In the past five years, no less than 150,000 cases of cancer have been registered in Algeria, with 58,000 new cases identified each year.

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“We highly value the results of our joint work at the summit. I am sure the achieved results are creating a good foundation for further deepening the Russia-Africa partnership in the interests of our nations’ prosperity and wellbeing.”

President of the Russian Federation
Vladimir Putin

The Russia–Africa Summit, which is taking place in Sochi on 23–24 October 2019, encapsulates the historically friendly relations between the African continent and the Russian Federation. This Summit carries great significance as it is the first of its kind to emerge during a period of major global and international transformations. In response to the aspirations of the people it is representing, the Summit intends to build a comprehensive framework for expanding Russian–African relations into broader horizons of joint cooperation across different fields.

The African nations and Russia share a common understanding of international relations, based on the principles of respect for the rule of international law, equality, non-interference in the internal affairs of states, and the peaceful resolution of disputes. Both sides affirm their commitment to support multilateral actions to oppose new international threats, be they terrorism and extremism in all their forms, or declining growth rates. The two sides share a firm conviction regarding the importance of developing trade flows and supporting mutual investment in such a way as to ensure security, peace and development for the African and Russian people.

African countries have huge potential and opportunities that will allow them, once efforts to streamline their economies have been achieved, to emerge as real global players. In recent years, the nations of this continent have achieved major successes spanning the political, economic, social and administrative spheres. Africa has flourished in terms of growth over the past decade, reaching a continent-wide growth rate of 3.55% in 2018.

The African Union Summit, which was held in Niger in July 2019, continued the efforts of the African countries and saw the African Continental Free Trade Agreement come into force, along with its operational instruments. The agreement is one of the key objectives of Agenda 2063, an African development strategy that has been created to address the African people’s desire for prosperity and decent living standards.

These successes are opening up wide-ranging prospects for cooperation between African countries and the Russian Federation, and confirm the determination of African governments and their people to cooperate with multiple partners in order to establish mutually beneficial relations.

With this in mind, we express our hopes that the Russia–Africa Summit will help in the establishment of constructive strategic relations, based on partnership between two sides across various fields, and in the service of fulfilling the hopes and aspirations of the African people and their friends in Russia.

President of the Arab Republic of Egypt
Abdelfattah ALSISI