Cutting Costs for a Continent That Carries 80 Percent of the World’s Cases
By The Atlantic Digest, Africa Desk | Breaking News — Health & Science
A Senegalese pharmaceutical company has begun producing and distributing Drepaf, a generic version of the sickle cell drug hydroxyurea, marking what officials and industry observers describe as the first time a clinical treatment for sickle cell disease has been manufactured on African soil. The drug, made by Dakar-based Teranga Pharma, is already reaching patients in Senegal at a fraction of the cost of imported alternatives and is now being positioned for distribution across West and Central Africa — a region that, by the World Health Organization’s own count, is home to roughly two-thirds of the world’s sickle cell disease burden.
THE ANNOUNCEMENT AND WHAT DREPAF IS
Drepaf is a generic formulation of hydroxyurea, a decades-old medication that the World Health Organization recommends as a frontline treatment for sickle cell disease. The drug does not cure the underlying genetic disorder but works by increasing the body’s production of fetal hemoglobin, which reduces the sickling of red blood cells that causes the disease’s hallmark painful crises, severe anemia, extreme fatigue and intense headaches. Teranga Pharma produces Drepaf in two formulations: a 500-milligram tablet for adults and a 100-milligram tablet for children, with a pediatric version for children as young as nine months reportedly added in March 2026. Reporting on the drug’s regulatory and commercial timeline varies somewhat across outlets: some accounts date Senegal’s marketing authorization for the drug to April 2025 with commercial distribution beginning in early 2026, while others describe a November 2025 launch; The Atlantic Digest presents both timelines as reported rather than resolving the discrepancy, which may reflect the difference between regulatory approval, formal launch, and the start of wider commercial availability.
WHY IT MATTERS: AFRICA’S SHARE OF A GLOBAL DISEASE BURDEN
Sickle cell disease is the most common inherited blood disorder in the world, affecting an estimated 120 million people globally, according to World Health Organization Africa regional data — and Africa carries a disproportionate share of that burden. WHO’s African regional office estimates that roughly 66 percent of people living with sickle cell disease worldwide are in Africa, with prevalence reaching approximately 800 cases per 100,000 people across the region, and separate figures cited by Teranga Pharma’s leadership put Africa’s share of global cases closer to 80 percent — a range this report presents as reported rather than reconciled, since the two figures may reflect different methodologies or population baselines. The human cost of the disease in Africa is severe: WHO regional data indicate that roughly 1,000 babies are born each day across the region at high risk of the disease, that between 50 and 80 percent of African infants born with sickle cell disease die before the age of five, and that the condition accounted for 38,403 recorded deaths in 2019 — a 26 percent increase since 2000 — representing 6.4 percent of all under-five mortality on the continent. Despite that scale of need, access to hydroxyurea, the WHO-recommended standard treatment, has long been constrained by cost and supply: a 2023 study covering thirteen French-speaking sub-Saharan African countries found that 78 percent of healthcare professionals surveyed reported frequent supply disruptions of the drug, almost all of which has historically been imported from manufacturers in Europe and the Americas.
WHAT THE COMPANY IS SAYING
Teranga Pharma’s chief executive, Mouhamadou Sow, framed the launch as a matter of both access and sovereignty. “Africans do not have access to the active ingredient. So the first key point is that Teranga Pharma has enabled Senegalese and Africans to gain access to this molecule,” Sow said, adding a broader argument about pharmaceutical self-sufficiency on the continent: “If Africa is to develop, if Africa is to enjoy good health, the medicines that Africans take must be produced in Africa.” The company has said it aims to reduce the frequency of sickle cell crises among patients using the drug by roughly threefold, consistent with hydroxyurea’s established clinical effect when used as directed.
THE PRICE DIFFERENCE, AS REPORTED
Multiple Senegalese and regional outlets reported specific pricing for Drepaf relative to imported alternatives, though the figures cited vary by source and unit of measurement. One account put Drepaf’s wholesale price at 3,000 CFA francs for the adult 500-milligram formulation and 1,500 CFA francs for the pediatric 100-milligram formulation, describing imported alternatives — branded as Hydrea and Siklos — as costing up to three times more. A separate account described the drug as costing between 50 and 100 CFA francs per daily dose depending on the patient’s age and required dosage, with Teranga Pharma said to be supplying the drug “at cost without commercial margin.” The head of a Senegalese sickle cell patients’ association, Magueye Ndiaye, pointed to a practical dimension of the pricing that goes beyond the sticker price: “Until now, patients had to buy two boxes of 20 tablets. Now a single box of Drepaf, which contains 60, is enough and for the same price” — describing a change in packaging and dosing efficiency layered on top of any straightforward price reduction. The Atlantic Digest was unable to independently reconcile the differing price figures reported across outlets and presents them as published.
PATIENT VOICES
Senegalese patients and family members described a tangible difference since switching to the locally produced drug. Mamadou Tahirou, an 18-year-old living with sickle cell disease since he was diagnosed at age three, described a life defined by the condition: “I was three years old when I was diagnosed with sickle cell disease. I’ve been living with it ever since.” Lala Dieng, the mother of a 17-year-old patient, described her son’s experience switching from the imported drug to Drepaf: “Doctors used to prescribe Hydrea 500 to alleviate his episodes. He recently switched to Drepaf 100, and I’ve noticed he has far fewer attacks” — an individual clinical account that The Atlantic Digest notes is not a substitute for controlled comparative trial data on the two formulations’ relative efficacy, which this report did not identify as having been published.
THE BUSINESS CASE: FUNDING, PARTNERSHIPS AND REGIONAL EXPANSION
Teranga Pharma’s project has been financed with roughly 4 billion CFA francs, or approximately $7.1 million, according to regional business reporting, and the company has worked with an Indian technical partner to help scale production and manufacturing capability — a common model in African generic pharmaceutical manufacturing, given India’s long-established generic drug industry. One account also referenced a partnership with Drep.Afrique, an organization focused on expanding sickle cell treatment access across the continent, though The Atlantic Digest was unable to independently confirm the precise nature of that partnership’s role relative to Teranga Pharma’s own operations. The company’s immediate distribution expansion targets Burkina Faso, Guinea and Côte d’Ivoire, with reported interest or requests for supply also coming from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon and Cameroon. Teranga Pharma’s stated long-term ambition is to supply sickle cell medication demand across sub-Saharan Africa by 2030, a timeline that would require substantially scaling production, securing additional regulatory approvals in each destination market, and building distribution infrastructure well beyond Senegal’s borders.
WHAT REMAINS UNCLEAR
Several open questions remain as of this report. The exact regulatory and commercial timeline for Drepaf’s launch is reported inconsistently across outlets, with dates ranging from an April 2025 marketing authorization to a November 2025 launch and early-2026 commercial distribution start. Pricing figures for the drug are similarly reported in different units and amounts across sources, and this report was unable to determine which figure reflects current retail pricing for patients as opposed to wholesale or subsidized cost. No head-to-head clinical trial data comparing Drepaf’s efficacy or safety to the branded imported alternatives Hydrea and Siklos was identified in the reporting reviewed for this article; patient accounts of improved outcomes after switching are individual testimonials rather than controlled trial evidence. It also remains unclear what regulatory approvals Teranga Pharma has secured, or still needs, in each of the additional markets — Burkina Faso, Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire, and the countries expressing further interest — before distribution can begin there.
Editorial note: This report draws on reporting from Africanews, Pulse Nigeria, Pulse Ghana, BusinessDay Nigeria, Modern Ghana, Yen.com.gh, The Peninsula Qatar, West Africa Weekly, and World Health Organization Africa regional data on sickle cell disease, current as of Friday, September 11, 2026. Direct quotations are attributed to their original speakers and outlets as cited. Statistics on Africa’s share of the global sickle cell disease burden vary between sources (66 percent per WHO regional data and 80 percent per figures cited by Teranga Pharma) and are presented as reported rather than reconciled. Pricing information for Drepaf is likewise reported inconsistently across sources and presented as published. No independent clinical efficacy comparison between Drepaf and imported hydroxyurea brands was identified in available reporting. The Atlantic Digest will continue to follow the rollout of Africa-manufactured sickle cell treatment as it expands across the region.
