In Africa’s pursuit of a bigger healthcare industry, Sothema is a key player. The 48-year-old group is the largest pharma company in Morocco and sells its 300 products — which cover everything from oncology and diabetes to Covid-19 vaccines and the morning-after pill — in 16 countries throughout the continent and the Middle East. 

From its headquarters on the outskirts of Casablanca, Sothema has firmly set its sights on ensuring African healthcare benefits from the latest technology. “The future of artificial intelligence [AI] and data in pharma is huge,” says CEO Lamia Tazi. “I’m sure it will be a revolution in the next 10 years.” 

She takes the example of long development timelines for new drugs, stressing that this is the industry’s biggest challenge. “Research and development takes approximately 10 years, and when you find the [new] molecule, you need 10 years to do the clinical trials,” says Ms Tazi. AI can drastically shorten these timelines, and Sothema is building international bridges to ensure the markets it serves benefit from this AI revolution.

In 2023, it struck agreements with Long Island University and Baylor University in the US to collaborate in this area. “The [agreements] encompass some tools which can shorten the time needed to develop molecules by three to four times,” she explains. “And then for the clinical trials [the universities] have developed a module using AI which can do it in two or three years. It’s really a revolution.”

Sothema is also investing in AI’s ability to improve diagnostics. In late 2022 it acquired a stake in French start-up Ziwig, which has developed an AI-backed tool to identify endometriosis from a saliva test. Ziwig claims its tool can cut the average diagnosis time of the disease from up to eight years to just a few days. 

“Sothema signed these deals to take advantage of what [the universities and Ziwig] know and try to apply it somehow in Morocco,” says Ms Tazi. These initiatives can also help ensure that the next generation of pharma is compatible with African DNA. Despite accounting for nearly 20% of the global population, some 95% of all clinical trials on new drugs are carried out beyond the continent. “It means the African genome is not included in these trials, so we are not sure if these drugs are working on our genomes,” says Ms Tazi. Ensuring more African data is included within the development of new medications is vital to individuals’ health and longevity.

Spurring local manufacturing

Sothema’s AI projects work towards African governments’ goal of improving the continent’s self-sufficiency in pharmaceuticals. Africa’s lack of local manufacturing in the industry was laid bare during the pandemic, when vaccine nationalism by other countries led to woefully low rates of Covid-19 vaccination. 

The desire for greater sovereignty and autonomy in drug manufacturing has led some governments to offer incentives to spur local investment in vaccines and other pharmaceutical facilities. “During 2022 and 2023 alone, we were approached many times with incentives to locally manufacture in many African countries such as Senegal, Kenya and Uganda,” she says. These incentives include the provision of land, entering public-private partnerships, the prioritisation of African firms in public tenders, and pledges to crack down on the alleged dumping of cheap imports from Asia.

For Sothema, which currently manufactures only in Morocco and Senegal, these policies are being rolled out at an opportune time. It is looking at opportunities to establish a plant in east Africa, specifically Kenya or Uganda. “We are still in discussions with governments,” says Ms Tazi. “It’s why Sothema is looking to invest in the region.”

Do you want more FDI stories delivered directly to your inbox? Subscribe to our newsletters.

This article first appeared in the December 2023/January 2024 print edition of fDi Intelligence