JOB CREATION
Drugs sector tie-ups ‘can help cure SA’
Production of drugs in SA instead of outsourcing to countries such as India would dent high unemployment
Public-private partnerships in the pharmaceutical sector are vital for accelerating job creation and infrastructure development in SA, says malaria researcher Kelly Chibale. A quarter of South Africans are unemployed, while the country continues to outsource pharmaceutical manufacturing to countries such as India. The state-owned pharmaceutical firm Ketlaphela is yet to begin production of medicines. Chibale said collaborative research and development between universities, industry and the government created jobs and infrastructure for economic growth and attracted foreign direct investment. His state-of-the-art Drug Discovery and Development Centre at the University of Cape Town has developed groundbreaking single-dose drugs that could cure malaria, a disease that kills more than 1,200 people a day. In 2014‚ MMV048 became the first new antimalaria medicine to enter human studies in Africa. Chibale started his research with a staff of five postdoctoral graduates that has now multipl...
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