Revital Healthcare EPZ Ltd, a Kilifi-based medical supplies manufacturer, has obtained a new round of funding from two Japanese companies, allowing it to expand its production capacity.
Revital Healthcare has received a USD3 million (Sh339 million) investment from Asia Africa Investment and Consulting Pte Ltd (AAIC) and Ohara Pharmaceutical Company Ltd.
The Kilifi-based business, which is one of only 25 auto-disable syringe manufacturers pre-qualified by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the only one in Africa, will increase its yearly production capacity from 75 million to more than 400 million.
This comes after the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation invested Sh440 million in the company, boosting output to at least 300 million syringes per year by 2022, according to the company’s sales, marketing, and product development director Roneek Vora.
Revital believes that the support will result in the development of over 100 direct new employment and over 5,000 indirect new jobs, with at least 50% of new hires being women.
As the global rollout of COVID-19 vaccinations advances, demand for auto-disable syringes has risen.
According to PATH, a global non-profit organisation dedicated to advancing public health, there will be a scarcity of approximately 2.2 billion 0.5ml vaccine syringes in 2022.
In low and middle-income countries, particularly in Africa, this will have a significant impact on the Covid-19 immunisation effort, child immunisation, and inoculation of the new malaria vaccines.
Revital now produces 45 critical medical disposables, including syringes, Rapid Diagnostic Test Kits for Covid and Malaria, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kits, surgical face masks, and viral transmission medium kits.
The investment comes at a time when the Omicron variant of Covid-19 is rapidly spreading over the world, causing countries to reintroduce severe measures such as lockdowns in an attempt to limit the infection.
In a statement, Vora stated, “Expanding manufacturing capacity in Africa for crucial goods like syringes is essential to secure adequate supply for the continent.”
He expressed his pride in the company’s contribution to worldwide efforts to guarantee that Africans have access to life-saving immunisation syringes.
Revital Healthcare chairman Rajni Vora stated that the business plans to expand into the diagnostics line, laboratory consumables, and other more necessary medical supplies with the financing from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, AAIC, and Ohara Pharmaceuticals.
President and CEO of Ohara Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Seiji Ohara, stated that the demand for medical syringes that protect African lives against not just Covid-19 but also other infectious diseases including malaria and HIV/AIDS will increase in the future.
“We are committed to and excited about this strategic relationship in addressing the current and future global health crises from Africa,” Handa stated.