Johnson and Johnson, a manufacturer of healthcare products, has had a major shift in market strategy by setting up an operations hub for East Africa in Nairobi. The firm will set up its consumer, medical device, pharmaceutical departments in Nairobi, Kenya.
The East African office becomes the third one after the Ghana office was launched on Tuesday this Week. The other office is in South Africa.
According to the company’s Group Chairman Europe, Middle East and Africa Jane Griffiths, the Nairobi hub would be key to developing new vaccines and devices that deliver better treatment for health issues unique to the region.
“Having a foot in the region will allow us to better understand the realities and the challenges specific to East Africa and come up with solutions and partnerships which best addresses the issues”, said Ms. Griffiths.
Johnson &Johnsons already developed an ebola vaccine and that that they had also developed a drug for the drug-resistant strain of TB.
“The opening of the new Johnson & Johnson office will play a major role in supporting our goal of helping to improve the quality of and access to healthcare in the region, while showcasing a model that can be replicated across Africa,” said Vittorio Sereni, Country Manager of the Johnson & Johnson office in Nairobi. “We are building a talented team that will lead the expansion of our product portfolio and continue to provide responsive, comprehensive care solutions to meet the evolving health issues that impact patients and health care providers here.”
Building on the company’s 86-year history in Africa, Johnson & Johnson will work in Kenya to support efforts to deliver innovative treatments, diagnostic technologies and service delivery models that address a variety of patient needs. While helping to strengthen national health systems and build research and development capabilities among Kenyan researchers as well as leverage its capabilities in advocacy to partner with local governments, NGOs and CBOs to meet the region’s evolving health care needs.
Jane Griffiths, Company Group Chairman EMEA for Janssen, one of the pharmaceutical companies of Johnson & Johnson. “Our team in Kenya will continue to support the efforts of NGOs and health care providers and seek opportunities to innovate through partnerships involving research collaboration, health education and vaccine development.”
Through innovation, collaboration and local engagement Johnson and Johnson aims to cultivate Africa’s innovation, expand R&D skills and capacity among African scientists, catalyze healthcare infrastructure investments, enhance collaboration with local health delivery partners, boost education and training resources for healthcare workers, enhance African youth to thrive and become drivers of change and improve access to medicines.
