Roundtable event on building reliable and sustainable medicine supply chains in Africa – Meeting Report

The session aimed to provide a neutral, collaborative platform for open exchange, convening representatives from both multinational and regional African-based generic and biosimilar medicines (G&BM) manufacturers, as well as implementation partners. Held under the Chatham House Rule, discussion centred on identifying practical strategies to strengthen the consistent supply and availability of quality-assured medicines across Africa, drawing on concrete product-level examples and peer-to-peer learning to ground the discussion in operational realities. 

High-level themes 

As explored in more detail in the meeting report, participants shared insights and solutions related to these key topics: 

1. High-Volume/Low-Cost Generics: conditions required for manufacturers to sustain a reliable supply of high-volume, quality-assured essential medicines under tight margins 

2. Low-Volume/Specialty Generics: conditions required for manufacturers to enter and sustain supply of specialty generics where market entry demands advanced manufacturing capability, regulatory expertise and collaborative partnership models 

Calls to action 

The group highlighted strategies already in use that should be sustained and further scaled as well as areas where deeper improvements are needed. Four broad themes emerged from the discussion:  

1. Strengthening API sourcing and supply resilience  

2. Leveraging demand visibility and market shaping to ensure quality-assured production and sustainable supply  

3. Utilising market access strategies to support sustainable entry and scale-up in target markets  

4. Harnessing partnerships to expand manufacturing capacity and improve access  

The Generic & Biosimilar Medicines Programme 

Insights from the discussion will be used to inform the Access to Medicine Foundation's G&BM Programme, which seeks to stimulate and guide G&BM manufacturers to expand access to their products in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). As part of this programme, the Foundation has previously convened a roundtable on the sidelines of the 78th World Health Assembly and released a  Company Profiles report, which maps how a core group of G&BM manufacturers are expanding access to essential products in LMICs and provides targeted recommendations for further progress.  

Later in 2026, the Foundation will publish a report on how a selection of key players, which includes both large multinational players and emerging regional African-based manufacturers, are approaching supply and availability in African countries, focusing on effective collaborations that can be replicated and further developed to drive progress.