Just after opening a refurbished manufacturing facility in Cape Town, South Africa earlier this year, pharma giant Johnson & Johnson ($JNJ) recently opened the doors to its Global Public Health Africa Operations office there.
The company has invested $21 million (300 million rand) in the facilities. The global public health facility will focus on HIV, tuberculosis and maternal, newborn and child health, South Africa - The Good News reported.
“This (investment) tells us that South Africa has the capability to provide a facility for world-class manufacturing,” Rob Davies, minister of the Department of Trade and Industry told the publication.
Johnson & Johnson, which has operated in South Africa for more than 86 years, planned to close the Cape Town manufacturing plant by the end of 2008 but was persuaded to keep the facility open for local manufacturing to serve sub-Saharan business. By 2015, the plant was cited by J&J as the most-improved in cost competitiveness from 30 company plants worldwide.
Earlier this month, the FDA gave J&J’s Janssen drug unit the go-ahead to proceed with the continuous manufacturing process it’s been working on for 5 years. The agency approved a switchover from batch to the new technology for production of HIV drug Prezista on a line at its plant in Gurabo, Puerto Rico.
- here’s the South Africa - The Good News story
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