MATUGGA, Uganda — The ministries of Finance and Health have backed the Dei Biopharma drug manufacturing plant in Matugga, Wakiso District, to grow into a new engine for the economy and close the gap on a medicine import bill that has drained the country’s foreign exchange for years.
Dr. Ramathan Ggoobi, the Secretary to the Treasury, Ministry of Finance on Monday toured the facility alongside Ministry of Health Permanent Secretary Dr. Diana Atwine, as well as officials from the National Drug Authority and the National Medical Stores.
Government has invested more UGX 700 billion shillings, or about $190 million into the plant, and more money has been allocate to the facility in the new budget under the Science and Technology budget.
On Monday Dr. Ggoobi called the site one of the largest facilities of its kind he has seen and noted that the joint government visit served as a fact-finding mission to assess the scale of the development and ensure value for money.
“People ask if Dr. Matthias Magoola is serious, if he can actually produce the medicine and medical supplies he talks about,” Dr. Ggoobi said, referring to the company’s founder.
“So far, it is always a good surprise when you come here. We are on the right track as far as emerging sectors in our economy, especially manufacturing and the knowledge economy, are concerned.”
Dr. Ggoobi said Uganda spends heavily every year importing medicine it cannot yet make itself. Dei Biopharma already produces around nine generic drugs, including paracetamol and capsules used in cancer treatment, and plans to move into insulin, vaccines and cardiovascular medicine.
If successful, Dr. Ggoobi said, the plant could replace nearly half of Uganda’s medicine imports, keeping money in the country and creating jobs. Thousands of young people are already employed at the site.
He stressed the investment is not a blank check. “The Auditor General audits the project regularly because the government holds a stake in it as a co-investor.” He said a newly appointed panel of about six bankers and scientists, approved by the president, will now vet future rounds of funding before more money is released.
He also pointed to the fiscal prudence of his ministry, noting that the last financial year closed on June 30 with every submitted invoice paid and a balance remaining.
“We cannot develop Uganda by simply growing more potatoes and maize,” Dr. Ggoobi said. “We need emerging sectors of the economy that offer a high return on investment. Science, technology, and innovation is an accelerator industry, and this campus is by far the leader in taking Uganda to another level.”
Dr. Atwine committed her ministry to purchasing what the plant produces. Under the government’s Buy Uganda, Build Uganda policy, she said, the ministry will procure from Dei Biopharma alongside other local manufacturers, giving the company a guaranteed customer as it scales up.
Her ambitions for the plant extend beyond Uganda’s borders. Approval from the National Drug Authority is only a first step, she said. The real goal is for the company’s products to be prequalified by the World Health Organization and other international regulators, opening up markets across Africa and beyond.
Dr. Atwine said it is still too early to expect that everything is working at full capacity, pointing to future increases in human resources, product approvals and the domestic production of active pharmaceutical ingredients, or APIs, alongside localized research and development.
“Dei Biopharma needs to be given the opportunity to grow,” she said, and “it must be supported to ensure it achieves its goals.”
Dr. Magoola said he has filed more than 100 patent applications with the US Patent and Trademark Office, covering treatments for cancer, HIV, malaria, tuberculosis, sickle cell disease, diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease. The work has drawn praise from President Yoweri Museveni.
Among the filings is a cancer immunotherapy patent published in February, which the company says targets genetic mutations shared across tumor types rather than a single patient’s own genes. The company claims this approach could eventually bring treatment costs below $100, compared to more than $500,000 for some existing therapies. There is also a patent for a foot-and-mouth disease vaccine for livestock published in January, and two further applications accepted by the US patent office in July.
The company says it also wants to make cheaper generic versions of patent-protected drugs, including the HIV prevention medicine lenacapavir, once it is able to. Uganda’s National Drug Authority has already licensed it to manufacture a handful of biological medicines, among them filgrastim, erythropoietin and trastuzumab.
Dr. Magoola, however, said the site can only run three or four of its eight completed production blocks at a time because it does not have enough electricity. Running at full scale will eventually take up to 80 megawatts.
The plant also uses up to 2 million liters of water a day, with demand growing, and still has no connection to the National Water and Sewerage Corporation utility network.
“We are requesting that the government provide us with stable and sufficient power to run this facility,” Dr. Magoola said, adding that an extension of the national water grid to the site is also necessary.
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