In 2021, Grifols Has Focused on Expanding its Business in Africa

Grifols was one of the leading companies in the health sector in 2021, on the fringes of the large pharmaceutical companies that developed and made the Covid-19 vaccine available to the public.

The Grífols family group is a clear example of a Spanish company that is internationally known and recognized, which has continued to grow and expand its plasma products business and which has focused on Africa, specifically Egypt, this past year.

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The first platform

Catalan multinational and the National Service Projects Organization (Nspo) launched the first integrated plasma supply platform in Africa last year, marking the beginning of a solid plasma infrastructure that will lead the country to achieve self-sufficiency and facilitate access to plasma medicines throughout the Middle East and Africa region, as well as in other countries. The partnership between Grifols and Egypt is groundbreaking in its objectives and scope, bringing together for the first time a government agency with a private plasma drug manufacturer to address the country’s self-sufficiency.

To implement this plan in Africa, Grifols launched the Egypt for Plasma Derivatives joint venture with Nspo in 2021, which initially plans to build and equip twenty plasma donation centers throughout the country. The first facility was inaugurated in Cairo’s western district of Giza, in a modern two-story complex called 6 October.

The platform of plasma donation centers, spread throughout the country and equipped with state-of-the-art technology, will in the future have a collection capacity of one million liters of plasma per year. The building in which this first center is located will also include an analysis laboratory for plasma screening and a training area belonging to The Grifols Academy, the group’s main continuing professional education program for employees.

Under the terms of the joint venture, Nspo owns 51% of the capital and Grifols the remaining percentage. Until the facilities in Egypt are operational, the Spanish company will use its existing plants to produce drugs from plasma collected in the country. Grifols has a network of more than 350 plasma centers around the world. More than fifty are located in Europe. The company estimated in the second half of 2021 that by the end of the year, this network in the United States and Europe would increase to 370 facilities.

Grifols invested in Biotest

Beyond Egypt, 2021 was also the year in which the multinational pharmaceutical company made a strategic investment in Biotest. Grifols acquired Germany’s Tiancheng Pharmaceutical Holdings, which controlled 90% of Biotest’s ordinary shares, for $1.25 billion (€1.1 billion). The investment agreement in Biotest will complement the Spanish company’s product portfolio. Phase III clinical trials, which will add seven new projects, include two new proteins: fibrinogen and immunoglobulin IgM.

Founded in 1946, Biotest is a Frankfurt Stock Exchange-listed multinational company specializing in innovative solutions in hematology and clinical immunology. Headquartered in Dreieich (Germany), it develops, produces, and markets biologic drugs with applications in hematology, clinical immunology, and critical care. The company’s product portfolio includes twelve different products that are marketed globally in more than ninety countries.

The GIC momentum

The icing on the cake for Grifols in 2021 has to do with Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, GIC. The two agreed to a $1 billion investment by GIC in Biomat USA, a wholly-owned US subsidiary of Grifols. Biomat is a company with a network of 296 plasma collection centers in the United States. Grifols will continue to control all aspects related to the management of Biomat and the operation of the centers. These are the most important operations of the plasma derivatives giant, which is confident that the reduced fiscal stimulus in the United States will continue to encourage a further increase in plasma donations. In Europe, procurement volumes were up significantly from 2020 volumes, which in turn were already up from 2019 levels.

Grifols agreed with GIC a $1 billion investment in Biomat

Grifols has four divisions, bioscience, diagnostic, hospital, and bio supplies, which develop, produce and market innovative solutions and services in more than one hundred countries.

The group is one of the largest plasma companies, with a growing network of donation centers around the world. With the plasma obtained, Grifols produces essential medicines to treat rare, chronic, and sometimes life-threatening diseases. As a recognized leader in transfusion medicine, the company has a portfolio of solutions designed to improve safety from donation to transfusion. In addition, it provides hospitals, pharmacies, and healthcare professionals with tools, information, and services that contribute to the delivery of specialized and efficient medical care. In 2020, Grifols’ total economic impact in the main countries where it operates was estimated at $8.5 billion (€7.5 billion), and 140,000 jobs generated, including direct, indirect, and induced employment.

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(Featured image by shadyshaker via Pixabay)

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First published in PlantaDoce, a third-party contributor translated and adapted the article from the original. In case of discrepancy, the original will prevail.

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