SCOUTING FOR OPPORTUNITIES

Ayman Cheikh-Lahlou, Chairman and CEO of the Morocco-based Cooper Pharma, took the helm of the family-owned pharmaceutical company in 2005 and has seen business boom over nearly 20 years. Now, he’s exploring expansion opportunities in new markets.

- Ayman Cheikh-Lahlou

MENA’s pharmaceutical market is expected to be worth $52.4 billion by the end of 2024 and could grow to $59.9 billion by 2028, according to Fitch Solutions. This growth potential is being supported by the efforts of several countries to expand their universal healthcare coverage, including Morocco, which has been implementing major health system reforms since 2020 and aims to have 100% health coverage by 2025, according to the World Bank. Having been in the market for over 90 years, Moroccan pharmaceutical company, Cooper Pharma, is playing a role in these big plans. “We’re always looking for opportunities. We plan to reinforce our presence and further grow in our home country and beyond,” says Ayman Cheikh-Lahlou, Chairman and CEO of Cooper Pharma.

Cooper Pharma’s business covers both manufacturing and commercial activities, with a network of nine fully-owned pharmaceutical manufacturing sites in the U.A.E., Saudi Arabia, Spain, the Czech Republic, Cote d’Ivoire, Rwanda, and Morocco. The company manufactured around 70 million packets of tablets and vials of medication in 2023, but this is still much less than it can do. Its total capacity stands at 120 million packs, and the CEO is determined to hit the maximum soon. As of 2023, Cooper Pharma had a market share of 11% by units in Morocco, explains Cheikh-Lahlou, as he emphasizes that the company intends to either establish new manufacturing capacities or acquire existing facilities in the near future.

Morocco allocated about $3.1 billion to its health and social protection sector for 2024, marking a significant 55% increase from the 2021 budget. The government is also linking IT systems and hospitals under the Ministry of Health and Social Protection through a national database as part of a new integrated vision for upgrading the health system, in line with the commitments of its 2021-2026 government program.