More transparency needed to better the relationship between the pharma industry and media reporting, says BhekisisaThe SA pharmaceutical industry is expected to deliver R73bn in sales by 2025, according to Invest SA’s Fact Sheet published by the department of trade & industry.
The role that the pharmaceutical industry has played in supporting the SA economy during the Covid crisis and strategies to bridge the gap between the pharmaceutical industry and the media was the focus of a recent Business Day Dialogues digitised conversation, in partnership with Innovative Pharmaceutical Association of SA .
Glaudina Loots, health innovation director at the department of science and technology, said one of her priorities around the development of a Covid vaccine is to ensure that any potential vaccine is safe to use on HIV-positive patients. Revealing that SA already manufactures some vaccines locally, she said the pharmaceutical industry is the fifth-largest contributor to the SA’s trade deficit. The Footprint Study estimates that the value of locally produced drugs will reach R9bn by 2021.