December 2024- The Egyptian Drug Authority approved the insulin glargine injection manufactured by EVA Pharma through a collaboration with Eli Lilly and Company. Launched in 2022, the collaboration aims to deliver a sustainable supply of high-quality, affordable human and analog insulin to at least one million people annually living with type 1 and type 2 diabetes in low- to middle-income countries (LMICs), most of which are in Africa.

This marks the first regulatory approval of EVA Pharma’s insulin drug products, following Lilly and EVA Pharma’s collaboration announcement in December 2022. Under this agreement, Lilly has been supplying its active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) for insulin to EVA Pharma at a significantly reduced price and providing pro-bono technology transfer to enable EVA Pharma to formulate, fill and finish insulin vials and cartridges.

Less than two years after the initial announcement, EVA Pharma has completed a new biologics manufacturing facility, finalized insulin formulations and stability testing processes, engaged with the local regulatory authorities to obtain approval of the insulin glargine injection, and released the first batch of the locally manufactured insulin drug product.

Additionally, EVA Pharma’s human insulin injection was also submitted for local regulatory approval. Lilly and EVA Pharma continue working with the World Health Organization (WHO) to secure WHO pre-qualification for the locally manufactured human insulin injection. The WHO pre-qualification will further ensure that medicines manufactured by EVA Pharma meet the high-quality standards set by WHO.

“For more than a century, Lilly has been at the forefront of diabetes care, offering innovative solutions that make life better for people around the world,” said Ilya Yuffa, executive vice president and president of Lilly International. “Our collaboration with EVA Pharma furthers our commitment to providing sustainable and accessible medicines worldwide. We will continue to work with global health systems and industry stakeholders to address systemic barriers to healthcare and expand equitable, affordable access to our medicines to transform more people’s lives.”

Also Read: New Report: Global Diabetes Rates in Adults Double from 7% to 14% Between 1990 and 2022

“Localizing essential medicines is the key to driving equitable access to healthcare,” said Riad Armanious, CEO of EVA Pharma. “It takes bold collaboration, cutting-edge innovation, and tech-driven manufacturing to turn this vision into reality. Our collaboration with Lilly shows what’s possible when we push boundaries together. This is just the beginning—we’re on track to impact over a million lives annually across 56 countries, making a real difference for people living with diabetes.”