Swipha loses name as Biogaran acquires group to boost drug production in Nigeria
Biogaran, French generic medicine manufacturer, has announced the acquisition of Nigeria’s Swiss Pharmaceutical company (Swipha) under a deal that would see the new owners intensifying local production of drugs in the country.
The acquisition may have been made possible due to inability of the Nigerian firm to sustain its operations arising from high cost of operations and huge debt.
The move will mean the first investment drive by the French group in Nigerian market and part of its growing international presence.
President of Biogaran, Pascal Brière in an interview with a Nigerian media group, said the African pharmaceutical sector offers important growth opportunities across the continent fuelled by Africa’s rapidly emerging middle-class.
According to him, “Nigeria quickly became a common-sense choice for us. The country offers strong assets despite economic challenges that are linked to the oil sector. Nigeria is a market of 184 million people with a dynamic free trade economy.
“We made a survey of many countries to check whether there was room for strong development of our BIOGARAN concept abroad but many of such countries were eliminated because they were very mature markets and there was no room for new development to succeed. Nigeria was a different market and had room for development.
“Other determining factors are Swipha’s great experience, its impressive network and know-how which will make collaboration with a group like Biogaran even more natural”, he said.
