AstraZeneca has started the construction of a $40 million tablet manufacturing plant in Egypt.

The new facility, which is expected to start production early in 2007, is designed to manufacture products for the treatment of cardiovascular disease, cancer and psychiatric disorders. The 7,000 sq. m plant will have three production lines with a capacity of 250 million tablets but this could be expanded to produce 400 million tablets a year. Initially, the tablets will supply the local Egyptian market with the possibility that the plant may also export to neighbouring countries in the future.

Employment at AstraZeneca Egypt is expected to grow from its current 160-strong workforce to 300 employees when the factory opens.

Egypt is adopting fully the WTO "TRIPS" agreement protecting intellectual property rights from January 1 (2005) and AstraZeneca has identified Egypt as one of the key emerging markets for further development, together with such countries as China and Mexico, as part of the company's regional expansion strategy, release from AstraZeneca said.

Dr. Mohamed Awad Tageddien, the Egyptian Minister of Health, and Rashid Mohamed Rashid, Minister of Industry and Foreign Trade attended the inaugural ceremony taken place at the site in 6 October City, near Cairo.

Bruno Angelici, AstraZeneca's executive VP for International Sales and Marketing, said at the ceremony, "We have decided that the environment in Egypt is becoming sufficiently robust to make a financial commitment through the creation of our own company here and by supplying the local market from this new factory."

The value of the Egyptian pharmaceutical market is $1 billion annually. Multi-national companies supply around 65 per cent of the market through direct local manufacturing (30 per cent) or through licensing agreements (35 per cent).