Health consulting company Important Advice has released its latest market intelligence report, focusing on 24 leading supply chain innovators with a focus on Africa that appear to be on the cusp of making a more meaningful impact.
Details
Funded by the Gates Foundation, the report entitled “Leading innovations enabling access to health products in Africa,” finds that, amid difficult macroeconomic realities and declining investment in African technology ecosystems, a select number of African health innovators are emerging as leaders.
By The Numbers
Having been in business for an average of 10 years, the 24 leading innovators work collectively 100+ manufacturers and 75 public health institutionsarriving about 50,000 providers (serving hundreds of thousands of patients per day) and deliver health products to millions of consumers directly.
Digging deeper
- Kasha made headlines by securing Series B funding last year and has since gone on to build its health technology access platform and report annual revenue of more than $50 million in 2023 – the highest ever recorded by Salient’s research to date.
- Innovators like Kasha that offer digitally enabled order and inventory management services to hospitals, clinics, pharmacies and drug stores appear dominant among the top companies, accounting for 13 of the 24 featured innovations, with operations in 30 countries.
- Four leading online pharmacies reach nearly 10 million customers and generate average annual revenue of nearly $9 million. The other categories featured are innovations in Product Protection and Visibility, Medical Media Delivery and Data Analytics.
While leading innovators now appear in a position to deliver more meaningful impact, they require focused commitment from governments, donors, industry and global health institutions to transform access for underserved populations and improve the cost-effectiveness of care .
To leverage the models of leading innovators to increase access, governments, industry, donors and global health services should: simplify regulatory pathways; explore the ability of innovators to create cost savings for health systems by pursuing collaborations when the evidence is strong; and evolve contracting and payment systems to enable innovators to collaborate on health care delivery systems at scale.
Top Innovators
The top 24 innovators featured are (in alphabetical order):
- Chefa
- DrugStock
- Field Inc
- Figorr
- Grinda
- HealthPlus
- Cassa
- LifeBank
- Maisha Meds
- Meditect
- mPedigree
- MYDAWA
- Pendulum
- PharmaSecure
- Restorative Health
- RxAll
- Sobrus
- Sproxil
- Thalamus Health
- VIA Global Health
- Viebeg
- Wingcopter
- Yodawy
- Zip line
What they say
Speaking about the launch of the exhibition, Yomi KazeemEngagement Manager at Salient Advisory, commented:
“The findings highlight the remarkable resilience and growing impact of African supply chain innovators. Having followed health startups for many years, the emergence of a group of leading innovators is exciting to report. Local and global public health communities must increasingly recognize and leverage innovators in developing reliable and resilient health supply chains.”
Anne AllenSenior Program Officer at the Gates Foundation, commented:
“Technology-enabled innovations have the potential to help reverse long-standing challenges in African health systems, while creating local jobs and strengthening local health markets. The report confirms that innovators are increasingly able to deliver on this promise. But more needs to be done, as harnessing these innovations to truly transform financial access for millions of underserved Africans will require concerted efforts by governments, industry and global health organizations.”
To download the full market intelligence report, click here.
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