Saidal factory in Batna to open within four months, minister says

A Saidal factory in Batna that will make the raw material for paracetamol will open within four months, the Minister of Pharmaceutical Industry said on Thursday.

Ouacim Kouidri, Minister of Pharmaceutical Industry, gave the timetable during a visit to Batna wilaya. The factory belongs to the public group Saidal and is being built in the industrial zone of Kechida, Algérie 360 reported.

Paracetamol is expected to be more regularly available in pharmacies once the raw material is made locally.

"Within four months at the latest," the minister said.

The works are 85% complete, the minister said, and he was accompanied on the visit by the wali (governor of the wilaya), Youcef Bechlaoui.

The factory will be the first of its kind on the African and Arab scale. It will produce 2,000 tonnes a year of paracetamol raw material in its initial crystallised form.

It is expected to create 700 direct jobs and more than 3,000 indirect jobs in Batna wilaya.

The minister said the project is of national importance and was done on the instructions of President Abdelmadjid Tebboune to strengthen health sovereignty. The minister said local production will reduce the cost of medicine imports.

The factory is being built so that paracetamol raw materials are made in Algeria rather than imported, as the country previously relied on foreign markets for its chemical inputs.

Algérie Eco reported that Saidal plans partnerships to start making peptides, antibiotic raw materials, anticancer drugs, eye treatments, and human and veterinary vaccines in the coming months.

During the visit, the minister also inspected a water treatment station under construction in Batna and the site of a planned medico-social centre linked to Saidal's Est distribution unit.

The minister gave instructions for the works to be made faster, while respecting standards and deadlines.