SK Plasma is the first Korean blood product company to make inroads into Egypt. Blood products are treatments that make blood into raw material.
SK Plasma said on Feb. 12 that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Egypt’s state-run pharmaceutical company ACDIMA for the consignment production of blood products and technology transfer.
The total contract for the MOU is $330 million. SK Plasma will produce a plasma of Egypt’s local raw materials its Andong plant in the future on a consignment basis.
SK Plasma is going to transfer technologies and establish a blood product division plant under a turn-key contract. SK E&C will be in charge of building a blood product division plant.
Egypt will be able to self-sufficient in blood products, a state-mandated drug, under the MOU. Blood products are a state-essential drug used in the treatment of congenital immunodeficiency disease, hemophilia, and burns, but only 30 companies specialize in blood products worldwide.
It is because R&D and production technical barriers are high and it is difficult to secure blood from healthy people, which is a source of blood products, in a stable manner.
Under the deal, SK Plasma plans to use Egypt as a bridgehead for its expansion into Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
As the population of the area is 450 million, the demand for blood products is high. In particular, the Middle East and Africa are areas where the need for stable blood products is increasing at the national level.
“It is the first performance in six months since we signed the MOU with Indonesia last year and we will continue to show additional achievements based on SK Plasma’s capabilities," said Kim Yoon-ho, CEO of SK Plasma.