This milestone stems from the companies’ collaboration to expand access to affordable insulin to one million people living with diabetes in low-to middle-income countries annually by 2030

CAIRO, Egypt, December 17, 2024/APO Group/ — 

The Egyptian Drug Authority approved the insulin glargine injection manufactured by EVA Pharma (www.EVAPharma.com) through a collaboration with Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY). Launched in 2022, the collaboration aims to deliver a sustainable supply of high-quality, affordable human and analog insulin to at least one million people annually living with type 1 and type 2 diabetes in low- to middle-income countries (LMICs), most of which are in Africa. 

This marks the first regulatory approval of EVA Pharma’s insulin drug products, following Lilly and EVA Pharma’s collaboration (https://apo-opa.co/41xlg6K) announcement in December 2022. Under this agreement, Lilly has been supplying its active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) for insulin to EVA Pharma at a significantly reduced price and providing pro-bono technology transfer to enable EVA Pharma to formulate, fill and finish insulin vials and cartridges.

Less than two years after the initial announcement, EVA Pharma has completed a new biologics manufacturing facility, finalized insulin formulations and stability testing processes, engaged with the local regulatory authorities to obtain approval of the insulin glargine injection, and released the first batch of the locally manufactured insulin drug product.

We will continue to work with global health systems and industry stakeholders to address systemic barriers to healthcare and expand equitable, affordable access to our medicines

Additionally, EVA Pharma’s human insulin injection was also submitted for local regulatory approval. Lilly and EVA Pharma continue working with the World Health Organization (WHO) to secure WHO pre-qualification for the locally manufactured human insulin injection. The WHO pre-qualification will further ensure that medicines manufactured by EVA Pharma meet the high-quality standards set by WHO.

“For more than a century, Lilly has been at the forefront of diabetes care, offering innovative solutions that make life better for people around the world,” said Ilya Yuffa, executive vice president and president of Lilly International. “Our collaboration with EVA Pharma furthers our commitment to providing sustainable and accessible medicines worldwide. We will continue to work with global health systems and industry stakeholders to address systemic barriers to healthcare and expand equitable, affordable access to our medicines to transform more people’s lives.”

“Localizing essential medicines is the key to driving equitable access to healthcare,” said Riad Armanious, CEO of EVA Pharma. “It takes bold collaboration, cutting-edge innovation, and tech-driven manufacturing to turn this vision into reality. Our collaboration with Lilly shows what’s possible when we push boundaries together. This is just the beginning—we’re on track to impact over a million lives annually across 56 countries, making a real difference for people living with diabetes.”

This collaboration is part of the Lilly 30×30 initiative, which aims to improve access to quality health care for 30 million people living in resource-limited settings annually by 2030.

Most recently, Lilly and EVA Pharma expanded their collaboration, announcing (https://apo-opa.co/3ZCUhUJ) that Lilly will license certain baricitinib manufacturing know-how to enable EVA Pharma to manufacture and supply treatment for various immunological diseases across 56 low- to middle-income countries in Africa.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of EVA Pharma.

This funding is a key part of Cassava’s plan to strengthen its balance sheet, drive sustainable profitable growth, and cement its position as a global technology company of African heritage

LONDON, United Kingdom, December 17, 2024/APO Group/ — 

Cassava Technologies (Cassava) (www.CassavaTechnologies.com), a global technology leader of African heritage, proudly announces three significant milestones: a substantial equity injection, the successful completion of its South African Rand (ZAR) debt refinancing, and the finalization of its legal reorganization. These strategic initiatives position Cassava for robust growth underpinned by a strong balance sheet.

Cassava has closed an equity investment round of $90 million with participation from U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), Finnish Fund for Industrial Cooperation (Finnfund), and Google LLC. This funding is a key part of Cassava’s plan to strengthen its balance sheet, drive sustainable profitable growth, and cement its position as a global technology company of African heritage.

The conclusion of this equity round coincides with the successful reorganization of Cassava’s business to create an integrated digital solutions platform. This platform provides Broadband Connectivity, Co-location (data centres), Cloud, Cybersecurity, Compute (AI), and Payment services across more than 30 markets in Africa, the Middle East, India, and Latin America.

We are excited to announce these significant achievements, which collectively strengthen our financial position

Additionally, Liquid Intelligent Technologies, a business of Cassava Technologies, has successfully signed new facilities to refinance its South African Rand term loan on a multi-tenor basis. The new facilities, equivalent to USD 220 million in South African Rands, are being provided by Standard Bank of South Africa, Rand Merchant Bank, Nedbank of South Africa, and International Finance Corporation (IFC).

“We are excited to announce these significant achievements, which collectively strengthen our financial position and are a powerful testament to the vision of our founder and Group Chairman, Strive Masiyiwa, and the dedication and commitment of our teams across the Group,” said Hardy Pemhiwa, President and Group CEO of Cassava. “The closing of this equity round, completion of our ZAR debt refinancing, and reorganization represent more than just capital – it’s a pivotal milestone that we expect to unlock immense value and catalyze the further expansion of our digital infrastructure and services to bridge the digital divide on the continent”.

With the addition of DFC, Google LLC, and Finnfund, Cassava’s impressive roster of shareholders includes Econet Group, British International Investment (BII), Public Investment Corporation (PIC), Royal Bafokeng Holdings (RBH), Africa-Export Import Bank (Afreximbank/FEDA), and Gateway Capital.

Cassava Technologies has built a strong portfolio of business units comprising Liquid Intelligent Technologies, Africa Data Centres, Liquid C2, Cassava.ai, and Sasai Fintech, all of which are leaders in their respective sectors. This integrated platform of business units enables the Group to fulfill its vision of a digitally connected future that leaves no African behind.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Cassava Technologies.

Modern payroll platforms are cutting through cross-border payroll issues that erode business performance

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, December 17, 2024/APO Group/ — 

Can global payroll truly exist in an era where business is increasingly international, and employees work from more places and locations than the office? More specifically, organisations need a single, global payroll platform with configuration, scalability, and compliance across all sizes and locations to achieve flexible global payroll management. Is that achievable?

Business might go global, but payroll often remains very local. No matter which country one operates in, local regulations and requirements dictate payroll in that area. According to the 2021 “Getting the World Paid” survey (https://apo-opa.co/4ixXH3T), compliance is the biggest global payroll challenge.

“The enormous amount of variable administration can make it very difficult to manage payrolls in different regions under one umbrella,” says Heinrich Swanepoel, Head of Growth at PaySpace by Deel. “Every territory has different requirements. Navigating those local requirements is tricky and creates layers of bureaucracy. It becomes very expensive once you operate in a few territories.”

Payroll dampens global business

According to Forrester (https://apo-opa.co/3DgZY2Z), almost half of payroll administrators encountered substantial hidden costs when managing global payrolls. Compliance, language barriers, tax calculations, labour relations, and fluctuating exchange rates are among the culprits. But, the underlying issue is that different payroll administration is often fractured by necessity, relying on local representatives to manage that territory’s payroll on behalf of a company.

While that solves some of the problems, it’s impossible with traditional payroll systems to consolidate and centralise management on a global scale. Companies that achieve this do so with very fractured systems, incurring substantial costs and other risks.

“I’ve met many companies that want to expand into new regions but then reduce their plans or abandon them due to payroll management, transparency, or cost issues. That is a pity because they won’t have to have these problems if they used integrated payroll platforms,” says Swanepoel.

Global expansions are risky, and most companies don’t profit from their cross-border expansions (https://apo-opa.co/3VK4GN7). Any edge will help, and integrated global payroll management can turn overseas folly into victory. But what does integrated global payroll look like?

Winning with integrated payroll platforms

Companies reduce risks by centralising their payroll systems, including data breaches, fraud, and fines

An integrated payroll system has several attributes, some laying the foundation for more advanced features. Centralisation helps companies reduce risks by consolidating their payroll data and processes. Using integration, companies can connect payroll with finance and human resource systems, further reducing administrative overhead—especially when they start to automate processes, says Swanepoel:

“Automation removes many manual checks that take time and create opportunities for payroll fraud. An integrated centralised payroll system exchanges information with other business systems. When you start automating processes based on those exchanges, you can run continuous payroll that operates efficiently throughout the month, not just at the end.”

Centralisation through integration and automation also delivers other benefits, such as standard data sets, centralised management and reporting, streamlined enrolment, and adding advanced features such as self-service portals for employees. Every business should aspire for an integrated payroll environment, not only those looking to go global.

Fixing global payroll

However, a centralised and integrated payroll system can sound much like regional payroll systems. These are not capable of handling global payroll needs. But there is a new breed of payroll system that can handle global requirements while supporting centralisation, integration, and automation, and it remains flexible and affordable—global payroll platforms.

“The best global payroll platforms have ways to overcome typical issues that in-house and traditional software cannot. For example, they monitor different regions for legislative changes and apply them to their platform, which reflects immediately for all their customers. You can only do this with a cloud-native multi-tenant platform. The payroll service provider runs the platform, and each customer company accesses a secure instance meant specifically for them. That way, every customer gets updates without needing to do anything.”

These platforms naturally incorporate features such as automation, single data standards, and controlled access so that different departments can access payroll information and reports. They effortlessly cross borders, accommodating different cultures, languages, and sovereign laws.

Deel is the very first payroll platform to have been able to achieve these goals and allocate the resources to create global payroll coverage. But there are exceptions. For example, Deel recently acquired payroll platform PaySpace to offer global payroll and employee-of-record services on one software-as-a-service platform that serves multiple regions. This revolutionary bundling and delivery are poised to change how organisations manage local and global payrolls.

“A cloud-native payroll platform radically reduces the costs and risks associated with managing global payroll,” says Swanepoel. “You get payroll systems tailored to each territory you operate in. But there is no fracturing because they all interconnect on the same platform, and costs are lower because you save by automating processes, reducing administration, and don’t have to chase legislative changes. If you pay people in different jurisdictions, you should use a cloud-native integrated payroll platform. There really is no better choice.”

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of PaySpace.