Morocco Sets up New Commission to Advise on Generic Medication Quality

Rabat – The Moroccan Ministry for Health has set up the new Commission for Bioequivalent Studies, which will provide independent advice on Moroccan research projects related to the quality and efficiency of generic medication.

The commission will review the bioequivalence of generic medication in Morocco, that is whether the generic medication is equivalent to the brand-name medication in quality and efficiency.  

The commission will be made up of members of the Direction of Medication and Pharmacy, the body which regulates the Moroccan pharmaceutical sector, as well as researchers with expertise in pharmacology and chemistry. 

The ministerial decree, dated June 20, setting up the commission emphasizes that the commission members are independent: they must have no commercial interests in the making of the generic medication under review.

In March 2019, the Ministry for Health announced by decree that all generic medication in Morocco must be confirmed bioequivalent to the brand medication, before it is released on the market.

Bioequivalence testing must be done on all locally produced generic medication. For generics that have been produced overseas and have already been tested for bioequivalence, testing in Morocco is only required for smaller batches, where less than 100,000 units have been produced.

According to 2018 figures from the Moroccan Pharmaceuticals Association (AMIP), 40.1% of medication consumed in Morocco is generic. 

Read also: Mylan to Produce Hepatitis C Generic Medication in Casablanca Factory

In 2018, 60% of medication consumed in Morocco was produced locally, by over 45 different pharmaceutical companies.

The main Moroccan players in the industry are Laprophan, Cooper Maroc, Bottu, Iberma, and Sothema.

A number of foreign companies also produce generics in Morocco including Astrazeneca, Bayer, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Pfizer, and Roche. American company Mylan Pharmaceuticals inaugurated its factory in Casablanca last week, where it will produce a generic treating hepatits C.

The pharmaceutical industry is Morocco’s second largest chemical sector activity after phosphates.