Pfizer leaders in Africa and the Middle East (AfME) have met to discuss their intentions to bring innovations to more patients in the region, with the aim of impacting more than 45 percent of individuals in 2022 than in 2021.
While having more than 50 product launches across AfME, the company will continue to play a major role in the global fight against COVID-19, solving unmet needs and key public health concerns.
The panel also discussed how Pfizer is promoting health equity in the region by offering affordable medicines to individuals who can’t afford them, as well as enrollment methods and flexible payment alternatives.
“As we continue to raise the bar within research and patient impact in the area, we are seeking even stronger cooperation with healthcare professionals, communities, and governments to provide broader access to our achievements,” said Patrick van der Loo, Regional President of Pfizer AfME.
“We reached over 4.1 million patients across AfME in 2021, and we aim to improve patient access by more than 45 percent in 2022. We are preparing approximately fifty product launches this year, in addition to the 100 innovations accessible in the region to help patients across six therapeutic areas – vaccines, oncology, inflammation and immunology, internal medicine, rare diseases, and anti-infectives and sterile injectables.”
“We are also aiming to put affordability at the center of our company,” he continued, “and through our 30 access initiatives in 11 countries around the region, we were able to support the lives of over 4,500 people suffering from various cancer, inflammatory, and rare diseases last year.”
In 2022, we hope to launch more than 5 new projects, as well as expand some of our existing ones to include new treatments. This year, our goal is to help over 10,000 patients across Africa, the Middle East, and Europe.”
Pfizer is also using innovation to position itself as a significant driver of regional health and socioeconomic prosperity. The company continues to lead new programs in collaboration with governments to foster a favorable environment for long-term investments, such as the development and training of the next generation of workers, the strengthening of local R&D capabilities, appropriate technology transfer, and increased clinical trial efforts.
In recent times, the big pharma has collaborated with the Biovac consortium to teach South African healthcare workers to manufacture Pfizer’s pneumococcal conjugate vaccine domestically.
Pfizer has committed $24.5 million so far, with an additional $33.8 million projected in the future years as manufacturing ramps up. More than a million babies will be treated yearly with Pfizer’s product through the expanded vaccination program after Pfizer’s workforce development initiative and full technology transfer are completed.
