In a letter to Nature, two women working in life science organizations – one in South Africa and one in the US – made a brief but striking case for greater pharmaceutical production capabilities in low-and-middle-income (LMIC) countries. They highlighted new technologies that would support small-scale manufacturing units, arguing that Africa’s “leapfrog” over complex wired infrastructure to cellphone-based communications proves that LMIC countries need not mirror pathways to development once taken in the Global North.

To dig a little deeper, we spoke with the two women in question – Rachel Chikwamba (Group Executive, Advanced Chemistry and Life Sciences, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research) and Kerry Love (Founder and CEO, Sunflower Therapeutics PBC).

Issued by The Medicine Maker