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.

“The localisation of pharmaceutical manufacturing is a strategic priority for South Africa’s science, technology and innovation agenda,” highlighted DSTI acting deputy director general for technology innovation Dr Kenny Tenza. “Through continued investment in research infrastructure, partnerships and skills development, the API Innovation Cluster will contribute to building a globally competitive pharmaceutical manufacturing sector that supports economic growth and improves healthcare resilience.”

“TIA technology clusters are collaborative multi-stakeholder vehicles geared to identify and achieve common objectives in a coherent manner to create a knowledge-based economy in areas of national priority by stimulating innovative technology development,” explained TIA acting executive bioeconomy Sibusiso Manana. “The API Cluster will leverage internationally recognised process technologies to develop competitive API manufacturing processes while facilitating technology transfer to local pharmaceutical companies. This launch is a renewed commitment to convert South African science into productive capability, quality jobs and medicines that our people can access and trust. It is also an opportunity to position South Africa as a competitive pharmaceutical manufacturing hub for the continent. This phase of the API Cluster should be defined by partnership and measurable delivery, moving technologies from laboratory to market, building talent and enterprises that will sustain this sector.”

The cluster provided a national platform for the coordination and connection for government, academia and industry, to drive innovation in the local pharmaceutical industry. With Phase 2, the CSIR would now coordinate a network that supported innovative proof-of-concept projects at a number of universities, such as those of Johannesburg, Limpopo, Pretoria and Stellenbosch. The cluster would also help translational development projects, using the facilities of CSIR FuturePHARMA and the API+ Laboratory at the Pretoria-based company CPT Pharma. Further, it would impel skills development and build up the country’s pharmaceutical innovation ecosystem.

Phase 2 of the initiative would run until the end of 2028. Phase 3 (2029 to 2031) was currently planned to focus on the piloting of manufacturing processes for locally-developed APIs and the licensing of commercial production technologies.