Senegalese laboratory pioneers affordable drug production, introducing generic hydroxyurea, the first of its kind in Africa and the gold standard for treating sickle cell disease.
A Senegalese pharmaceutical company, Teranga Pharma, has begun producing Drepaf, a locally made generic version of hydroxyurea, marking the first time this frontline sickle cell drug has been manufactured on African soil. It is a modest-looking achievement, tablets in 500mg and 100mg doses, launched quietly in November 2025, but its implications are anything but small.
Sickle cell disease is not a rare disorder in Africa; it is a defining public health crisis. The World Health Organization's African region estimates that more than 300,000 babies are born each year with severe forms of sickle cell and related blood disorders, the vast majority in low- and middle-income countries, and researchers focused on sub-Saharan Africa alone put the figure closer to 400,000 infants annually. Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo carry the largest share of that burden. Without early treatment, close to half of African children born with the disease do not survive to their tenth birthday, often dying quietly, undiagnosed, in homes and clinics that lack the tools to name what is killing them.
