Regionalizing Pharmaceutical Production and Innovation

Abstract

In this paper, we address the question of successful establishment of regional production facilities in LMICs from both a design and a management perspective. Given the importance and urgency of current initiatives, we take as a starting point that replicating production facilities in each and every country might be inefficient and costly, and call for resources that currently do not exist, and that a systematic approach to creating a network of supply on the continent would be preferable.

The paper begins with a discussion on regionalizing production from a development and health perspective. It then proceeds to discuss the variety of models available to choose from, highlighting questions of technology, financing and other production incentives. In its final section, it discusses governance issues, and the political and policy decisions that may effectively influence the regionalization of pharmaceutical production.