Beijing Holley-Cotec opens unit in Kenya

One of China's biggest drug companies, Beijing Holley-Cotec Pharmaceuticals, has opened a drug distribution center in Nairobi to serve East and Central Africa.

In an interview, Beijing Holley Pharm president Lu Jintao said: "it is a Chinese government's project to combat malaria in Africa, and we want to achieve in Africa what we have done in China, where the number of malaria cases has dropped drastically after Cotecxin [a herbal-based product] was made more affordable to the ordinary people. Our company manufactures, markets and distributes pharmaceutical drugs, notably Cotecxin, used for decades as a single dose to fight malaria in China."

He added that the firm entered the African market in 1993 and has since opened offices in Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria and Uganda. The establishment of the East Africa Logistic Center in Nairobi will act as a center to distribute anti-malarial products to the private and public sectors at a much lower cost than those currently available, he noted.