The Egyptian International Pharmaceutical Industries Company (EIPICO) is looking to start operations at its Biosimilar Project in 2023, a source has exclusively told Daily News Egypt.
The source also said that the company is targeting EGP 400-600m in the first year of operations, which is expected to increase to EGP 2bn by 2030.
The local market size for the oncology and hormone-based products is estimated at around EGP1.5bn, that is currently 100% imported. With EIPICO being one of the first local producers in this area, the company expects to cover at least 50% of the local demand before exporting through its Biosimilar Project. The total cost of the project is around EGP1.2bn, to be financed using 1:1 debt to equity.
According to management, EIPICO secured the local currency denominated debt financing portion from local banks, with management also noting that the equity portion should be financed from the company’s internal resources.
However, some of the company’s shareholders favour the capital increase over internal financing, which means that a capital increase is on the table.
EIPICO plans to invest around EGP 169m in 2021, directed towards the purchase of new machinery for EIPICO 1 and EIPICO 2. These service the production and packaging of ointments and pills along with facility renovations.
The company plans to invest around EGP 800m over the next three years excluding the biosimilar project, directed towards operating, re-modelling and renewing the facilities machinery.
The company has invested around EGP 300-340m between 2019 and 2020, directed towards up-grading and renovating existing facilities, resulting in an increase of EGP 73m in revenues per annum.
EIPICO currently has a total portfolio of 611 products, of which 407 are registered, 129 are in the pipeline, 43 are veterinary, 30 are feed additives and two are biocides.
The company had 14 new launches in 2020, up from eight launches in 2019, translating into sales of EGP 39.1m (ex-factory) in 2020, and EGP 15.7m (ex-factory) in 2019.
The company’s management has increased the prices of 29 products in 2020, compared to 12 products in 2019. This implies an increase of EGP 56.6m in sales (ex-factory) in 2020, compared to an increase of EGP 12.2m in sales (ex-factory) during 2019.
Management plans to focus on new launches at high ASP along with submitting re-pricing requests of the existing products to the regulatory authorities. This should bode well for the sales growth during 2021 and going forward.
