Egypt plans to attract EGP 350bn ($7.4bn) of investment into its pharmaceutical sector within the next five years, Gamal El-Lithy, head of the Chamber of Pharmaceutical Industry at the Federation of Egyptian Industries, told Economy Plus on September 2.  

The plan aims to expand the number of factories from 180 to 250 by 2030, with about half of the investments expected to come from foreign sources, particularly from GCC and India.

El-Lithy added that the government is preparing a new framework to regulate medicine pricing, expected to be issued in Q4 2025. While some drug prices were raised earlier this year after the local currency weakened, he said that additional adjustments remain necessary across other products.

Each proposed new factory is estimated to cost around EGP 5bn. According to Fitch Solutions, pharmaceutical sales in Egypt are projected to grow from $5.7bn in 2024 to $6.8bn by 2029 and $7.8bn by 2034. 

However, challenges remain, Fitch noted. Local and international pharmaceutical companies (around 100 firms) have requested price increases of up to 30% on more than 500 products, citing rising production costs.

Rejection of these requests by the Egyptian Drug Authority has already contributed to shortages in imported medicines, particularly for cancer, hormone, and cardiac treatments.

According to Al Masry Al Youm, Egypt aims to raise pharmaceutical exports by 25% to $1.25bn by the end of 2025, compared with $1bn the year before.