Ibnsina Pharma, Novo Nordisk sign drug distribution contracts to distribute its products in Egypt

IbnsinaPharma, Egypt’s fastest-growing and second-largest pharmaceutical distributor, has signed two contacts with Novo Nordisk, leading manufacturer of insulin and haemophilia treatment , to distribute over 20 stock-keeping units of its diabetes care , haemophilia and growth disorders products in Egypt.

Previously reliant on one public-sector distribution company and one private distribution company,Novo Nordisk will join a group of over 325 domestic and international suppliers who rely on IbnsinaPharma to distribute their products to over 39,000 pharmacies, retail chains, wholesalers, public and private hospitals across Egypt.

“We are incredibly proud and excited by this new opportunity to distribute Novo Nordisk’s life-saving diabetes care,haemophilia and growth disorders products across Egypt,” said Mohsen Mahgoub, Chairman of Ibnsina. “Our primary objective is leveraging our distribution network to provide much-needed access to medication, and diabetes care products are essential drug in Egypt. At IbnsinaPharma, our commitment to maintaining high operating standards and serving as a one-stop shop providing storage, distribution and value-added marketing services has allowed us to become highly successful in the market and a distributor of choice for many suppliers from both Egypt and abroad.”

In preparation for distributing this new array of medical products, IbnsinaPharma invested EGP 2 million in additional warehousing facilities and allocated 28 specialized trucks to deliver Novo Nordisk’s cold-chain products. Currently the company has a total of 55operational sites across the country. As part of the conditions to attain these new contracts IbnsinaPharma also passed Novo Nordisk’s due diligence and operational audit to meet international standards.

“Our investment to accommodate these contracts is the first execution in our plan to invest EGP 700 million in new sites and expansion of IbnsinaPharma’s network over the next five years. This expansion is made possible by our successful IPO, conducted in the fourth quarter of 2017 which was c. 18 times oversubscribed. Adding Novo Nordisk’s high-demand products to our portfolio will continue to drive our profits and feed into our long-term plan for growth, Mahgoub asserted.”

Globally, Egypt is one of the ten largest countries in terms of population in which diabetes affects more than 7.8 million patients. Key diabetes risk factors including obesity (nearly 70% of Egypt’s population exceeds their healthy weight on the BMI) and an aging population will contribute to an increase in cases by 2035 of almost 50%. Novo Nordisk currently holds over 60% of the insulin market share in Egypt. For over 90 years Novo Nordisk has been developing and producing increasingly innovative medical products in an attempt to eradicate diabetes and other chronic illnesses. The company also frequently partners with government officials , healthcare professionals , and non-governmental organizations to address diabetes risk factors in urban areas to ensure that people with diabetes are diagnosed early and have access to adequate care.

“Diabetes is soaring in Egypt with around 8 million Egyptians diagnosed with the disease in 2017 according to International Diabetes Foundation (IDF) saidHassan Fahmi, General Manager of Novo Nordisk Egypt. “At Novo Nordisk, our main objective is to best serve Egyptians with diabetes and other chronic diseases in collaboration with all stakeholders. We are honored to be in this partnership with IbnsinaPharma to enable a wider and more convenient access to our products through the nationwide distribution network of IbnsinaPharma.,” he added.