Biotechnology-derived drugs: how far has Morocco come?

Abstract

Biological drugs are products made from biological active substances. When the patents protecting these drugs expire, biosimilar drugs can be developed by other manufacturers. To carry out an inventory of the economic and regulatory aspects of biomedicines in Morocco, and to give an overview of the different biological drugs and their biosimilars available, we based our work on a bibliographic search and on the use of different drug databases available in Morocco. In Morocco, a regulatory framework has framed the administrative procedure for the marketing authorization of biological drugs and their biosimilars. Biological drugs available on the Moroccan market belong to several classes and the health insurance system covers the majority of them. In Morocco, industrial companies must be encouraged to locally produce biomedicines. This would allow covering part of the national needs and reducing costs, which will increase patients´ access to such drugs.