July 14, 2025 Nairobi, Kenya, Kigali, Rwanda and San Francisco, USA

Bio Usawa, a company that is bridging the divide between the world’s leading healthcare markets and the growing demand for access to innovative biologic drugs and devices in the emerging nations of Africa, today announced its registration in Nairobi, Kenya under the corporate name Bio Usawa Biotech Limited.

A Kenyan base of operations reflects the importance of this market, which represents the largest and most advanced economy in East and Central Africa. It is home to the largest market for the rapidly developing health sector, with a growing biopharmaceutical market serving the entire East African region.

Although the region suffers from a high incidence of infectious diseases, such as malaria, cholera, meningitis, and tuberculosis, there is an increasing burden of non-communicable diseases including diabetes, respiratory, cardiovascular, neurological diseases, and cancer, among others. Bio Usawa is working to accelerate access to quality and affordable monoclonal antibodies in Africa through manufacturing and partnerships with global companies based in countries with stringent regulatory systems. To this end, Bio Usawa selected Kenya for its new office because of its proximity to a large population with an increasing demand for proven medicines to meet unmet medical needs in these areas.

“This new office will expand our access to critical markets, allow us to better serve patient populations, and support our growth as end-to-end Biotechnology company. Establishing domestic biotechnology expertise is essential for countering over-reliance on expensive imported biologics, improving accessibility to cost-effective life-saving therapies, and growing resilience to communicable disease threats,” said Dr. Menghis Bairu, CEO and President of Bio Usawa. “It provides a central locale in East Africa that will allow us to attract the people with the skills and talent we need as we build our company and expand our commercial operation into the fast-growing East African region.”

The office will house a range of functions for the company including medical affairs, legal, government affairs, and commercial teams. “We welcome the opportunity to partner with the Kenya’s government agencies and world-class healthcare professionals in our mission to eliminate the crippling gap in access to the many life-saving biologic therapies that have been marketed in developed nations for decades. We are delighted to develop new collaborations and networks in this vibrant African nation,” remarked Bio Usawa’s COO Dr. Patrick Lukulay.

About Bio Usawa, Inc. (BUI)

Bio Usawa has a singular mission: to manufacture and commercialize high-quality, effective and affordable biosimilars for patients in Africa. We are applying our 100+ years of combined experience in the industry in partnership with governments, agencies, educators and health professionals to make transformative biomedicines in Africa, by Africans, for Africans and beyond. 

Click here to learn more about our company's recent successes and download our new White Paper on Regulatory Approaches to Biosimilars in Africa.