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Uganda: $5m Firm to Export First Artemisinin Batch to India
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New Vision (Kampala)
31 October 2007
Posted to the web 1 November 2007
Ben Mugisha
Kampala
AFRO Alpine Pharma, a $4.5m (about sh8b) company, is to export its first batch of the Artemisinin malaria powder to India.
The Kabale-based company extracts the powder from plants.
The powder is used in the manufacturing of anti-malaria drugs.
The company is owned by businessman, Charles Mbire, and foreign partners.
Freddie Zagyenda, the chief executive officer, told reporters during a factory tour recently that over 960,000 kilogrammes of Artemisia dry leaves were bought from over 7,000 outgrowers in the district at sh1,000 a kilogramme.
Zagyenda disclosed that each farmer would earn between sh600,000 and sh800,000 per season (four months).
Artemisinin is the biggest component in the manufacturing of anti-malaria drugs. It was approved by the World Health Organisation.
The malaria drug is manufactured by CIPLA Pharmaceuticals, a leading Indian drugs company.
"CIPLA adds only two components of other drugs to the quality of the product," Zagyenda explained.
He said Uganda's Artemisinin is the best in the region because it has 98% medicine content and it conforms to international standards.
Zagyenda added that Quality Chemicals would buy some of the product.
Sunil Karwa, a chemical engineer of Indian origin, explained that the company intended to expand its capital investment by installing four more reactors in the production line so as to process 24 tonnes of dry leaf per day from the current 12 tonnes in the 24-hours running time.
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Mbire, who described the project as a landmark, praised President Yoweri Museveni and the National Resistance Movement government for creating a conducive atmosphere for private investments.
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