Responsibility for the second phase of the national Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) Innovation Cluster has been officially given to the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). APIs were the core components of medicines which directly produced the intended therapeutic effects. The role of the cluster was to develop and commercialise technologies for the production of small-molecule APIs.
“Central to our mandate is the expectation that our work must foster industrial development and contribute to the creation of a capable state which helps address socioeconomic challenges facing our country,” pointed out CSIR CEO Dr Thulani Dlamini. “In a world characterised by rapid technological change, no single institution can address complex national challenges such as health on its own. Meaningful and timely impact can only be achieved through partnerships that harness complementary expertise, infrastructure and collective ambition.”
The cluster was created by the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTI) and the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA) in 2020, and was jointly financed by them. It was created in response to the Covid-19 crisis, which showed the fragility of global pharmaceutical supply chains and Africa’s overreliance on imported medicines. This made the local production of APIs essential.
