The Business Year Special Report
Lamia Tazi, Chairwoman & CEO, Sothema
Sothema has evolved steadily over the last 45 years to become a leading pharmaceutical company in Morocco and one of the largest producers of innovative medicines in Africa and the Middle East.
2021 will mark the 45th anniversary of Sothema’s founding. How has the company evolved over the years?
Sothema is a success story. From a small laboratory consisting of only three employees and two products, a toothpaste and a mouthwash, Sothema has evolved steadily over the last 45 years to become a leading pharmaceutical company in Morocco and one of the largest producers of innovative medicines in Africa and the Middle East. Our portfolio includes the latest biotherapies like anti-cancer biosimilars, insulin, Enoxaparin, and more. In terms of production, Sothema has the largest and most versatile industrial facility in Morocco, operating with cutting-edge technologies. Our 300 brands cover the main therapeutic areas. In addition, Sothema is the first Moroccan pharmaceutical company to open a subsidiary in Senegal. This African laboratory, called West Afric Pharma, specializes in manufacturing and distributing, both in Senegal and the West African region, specific medicine like anti-malarial drugs. Thanks to its consistent efforts in terms of investment, Sothema was awarded best investor of 2019 by the UN Industrial Development Organization. In terms of R&D, the development of its first boosted antibiotic worldwide received the best innovation award by the European patent office.
What was the policy of the company during the lockdown?
Our policy consisted of two major decisions: contributing to the efforts of the Ministry of Health by ensuring a constant supply of medication, especially those used to treat COVID-19 like anti-allergy drugs, antibiotics, and enoxaparin; and protecting our employees from COVID-19. These two decisions formed our Response Plan-COVID-19. Since the beginning of the state of emergency put in place by the authorities, the number of hospitalizations due to COVID-19 jumped significantly, and Sothema doubled its production of serums used in such cases. The situation was challenging for us. The safety measures enforced in our plants, especially in terms of social distancing, obliged us to reorganize the way we work and rely on a reduced number of employees. However, despite this, we figured out how to ramp up our production of serums in order to meet the increasing demand. We also decided to stop having our sales team make visits to the medical community. We domestically manufactured hand sanitizers and distributed a large number of safety kits to more than 8,000 doctors.
What are your expansion plans terms of investments in new areas, facilities, and markets?
Sothema has an ambitious expansion strategy, both at the national and international levels, that consists of several investments. Sothema continues to enrich its portfolio of brands by manufacturing and distributing new chemical and biological drugs, including generics and biosimilars. Our main focus remains on biotherapies, but we also target some new areas like immunology. In terms of exports, our pledge is to continue to serve as many new African markets as possible. We also target other ways of entering certain markets, like the Middle East, through the establishment of subsidiaries.
How can local manufacturing be further promoted and encouraged?
When the pandemic occurred, the whole world is considering promoting a robust and more viable domestic pharmaceutical industry. Today, the priority for all countries, including the most advanced ones, is to possess an industry capable of a quick response against any crisis. The chief interest of any country is to first care about its health security. For all these reasons, the Moroccan Association of Pharmaceutical Industry is working diligently to promote a strong domestic pharmaceutical industry. One of the main measures that is urgent today is the implementation of a national preference. That is why we are engaging in dialogue with the Ministry of Health that we hope will lead to a satisfying solution.
Can you elaborate on Ypeva and Zelva, Sothema’s new anti-cancer treatment factories in Africa?
We are satisfied with the results of Ypeva and Zelva, the very first anti-cancer treatment factories on the continent. The medical community has also welcomed our products for their high quality and efficacy, as well as for their competitive prices. Ypeva and Zelva are 40% cheaper than imported biological anti-cancers.