Thursday 20 April 2017

20 April 2017 - Tunisian pharmaceutical company MédiS has acquired Winthrop Pharma Senegal from French drugmaker Sanofi (NYSE: SNY), the company said.

MédiS is a portfolio company of UK-based growth markets investor Actis. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Actis invested in MédiS at the end of August 2016 with the vision to work alongside the founder Dr Lassaad Boujbel and management to build a leading pan- African and Middle East player.

Through this acquisition, MédiS aims to actively develop the business in Francophone Sub-Saharan Africa from a Senegalese base.

WPS is an operator in the pharmaceuticals sector in French-speaking sub-Saharan Africa. MédiS' acquisition includes a 34,000m² manufacturing facility in the Rufisque district of Dakar, Senegal.

The plant is one of the most important production platforms in Western Africa and benefits from Senegalese and various West and Central African Ministry of Health approvals, including authorisation to handle controlled substances.

This plant exports a substantial part of its output.

MédiS has more than 720 marketing authorisations worldwide, 480 of which are in Africa, and is constantly expanding its international presence with a subsidiary in Algeria and the creation of MédiS International in the Czech Republic, making it the first Tunisian multinational in the pharmaceutical field.

This acquisition increases the number of MédiS production sites, which currently include MédiS laboratories in Tunisia, Neapolis Pharma laboratories in Tunisia, Inpha-MédiS laboratories in Algeria and MédiS International laboratories in the Czech Republic.

MédiS is currently present in 16 countries in FSSA including Senegal, Cote d'Ivoire and Cameroun.