Jain shares vision of becoming a global CMDO
Delhi’s Akums Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Limited is to set up an export-oriented manufacturing facility in Zambia to provide high quality and affordable generic medicines for patients in Zambia in Q3 FY2026 http://akumslifesciences.com.
A leading player in pharmaceutical manufacturing in India, the company and The Government of The Republic of Zambia (GRZ), have announced a partnership to manufacture and supply medicines in Zambia.
The Joint Venture (JV) will export to neighboring African countries like Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana, Malawi, Tanzania, Mozambique among other markets in the future.
The manufacturing facility will be headquartered in Zambia https://fieo.org/.
Akums will hold 51% while GRZ, though its nominated state instrumentality, will hold 49% in this joint venture. The JV will be managed by a Board with representatives from both partners. The JV is expected to be established by Q3FY26, post which the construction of facility will begin http://commerce.gov.in.
Commercial supplies from the facility are expected to begin in Q3 FY 28, subject to timely establishment of the facility and regulatory approvals for the facility and products. The facility will manufacture tablets, hard gelatin capsules, liquids, injectables as well as beta-lactam products. Both partners will contribute in the establishment and operationalization of the facility in ratio of their shareholding https://www.bseindia.com/.
To fulfill the current national healthcare needs, the Govt. of Zambia has also committed to purchase essential medicines from Akums’ facilities in India to Zambia. The supply will be of minimum USD 25 million annually in calendar years 2026 and 2027 https://sbi.com.in/.
Zambia is one of the fastest growing economies in Africa with GDP growth being expected at over 6% in 2025. Zambia’s pharma market is projected to expand by over 10%+ annually over the next 5 years and surpass US$300 million by 2030 https://www.nseindia.com/.
Currently over 75% of Zambia’s essential medicines are imported and this partnership will allow the country to move towards self-reliance in healthcare and reduce import dependency.
Additionally, the partnership holds export potential to other African nations, particularly SADC countries, with a combined population of over 450 million and a fast-growing pharmaceutical market.
“We are proud to partner with GRZ to deliver high quality, affordable medicines manufacturing for Zambian healthcare system. This is our first manufacturing partnership outside India and aligns with vision of becoming a global CMDO,” Sanjeev Jain, Managing Director at Akums, said on 23 Aug.
Akums, the largest India-focused contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), has 11 manufacturing facilities in India for its CDMO formulation business and two manufacturing units for its API manufacturing business.
The company manufactures over 4,000 formulations across 60+ dosage forms. It has 4 state-of-the-art R&D centres, with over 1,000 DCGI approvals and 250+ first time in India approvals. Fiinews.com
