Riad Armanious (MBA 2008) regards the pandemic as the greatest professional challenge he has faced as managing director of family-owned Eva Group and CEO of Eva Pharma, a multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Egypt. The demands are particularly acute at Eva Pharma, which caters to the pharmaceutical needs of emerging markets and has a strong presence in more than 40 countries throughout Africa and the Middle East-North Africa region.

“We are a very purpose-driven team and believe in empowering the fight for health and wellbeing as a human right,” Armanious explains. Eva Pharma is coordinating with Gilead Sciences, maker of Remdesivir, to distribute and manufacture the antiviral drug treatment for use in 127 countries, including Egypt. It was recently approved for emergency use by the United States, India, Japan, and the United Kingdom. In this interview, Armanious shares his thoughts on the unique challenges of leading a pharmaceutical company in these uncertain times. —Jennifer Gillespie

When did you realize that Eva Pharma could help to mitigate the pandemic and what did your action plan entail?

Riad Armanious: In late January, the outbreak in Wuhan seemed to be just affecting China. Then in February, it started to get more widespread. March is when it started to get scary, and since then, our lives have not been the same. As soon as it became clear that COVID-19 would spread beyond the borders of China, we began to plan for its inevitable arrival to our shores.

The true danger of COVID-19 lies in its ability to spread aggressively while taking a heavy toll on a significant portion of those who contract it. Consequently, it places severe stress on hospitals, which only exacerbates the problem and ultimately leads to higher death tolls. We believe the battle must be fought on three fronts: preventing the spread among the general population, relieving hospitals running at full capacity wherever possible, and ensuring the availability of life-saving medicine in the face of threats to global supply chains.

To combat nationwide shortages, our sister company, Eva Cosmetics, dedicated most of its capacity towards manufacturing alcohol-based disinfectants, gloves, and masks primarily to support public and private hospitals and doctors. We also recognized that the availability of ventilators was literally a matter of life and death for many patients. Fortunately, I am a member of an MBA alumni association that has addressed the problem of providing the Egyptian health care system with ventilators, which are prohibitively expensive and have been in short supply since the revolution in 2011.
 
Once Medtronic released the design specifications of one of its ventilator models, we revised our options and consulted experts across the globe to find a cheap, feasible, and scalable solution to this problem. At this point, I was approached by a professor at the University of Illinois whose team had designed a basic ventilator. He kindly provided the design specifications and granted us the rights to produce it. So with very little infrastructure in the medical-technology industry in Egypt, a consortium was formed—our business school association, a group of scholars, and an Egyptian electronics powerhouse. We were able to manufacture these basic ventilators, which are around 1 percent of the cost of high-end computerized ventilators. They’re now being tested in a hospital in Egypt.

Our most significant efforts in the global battle against the pandemic are possible thanks to our close partnership with Gilead Sciences. Early studies suggest that Remdesivir will help ease the burden on overstressed hospitals and health care systems, which is where the true danger lies.

What are the challenges you are encountering as a pharmaceutical company based in the developing world?

RA: COVID-related or not, most of the medicine we produce is affected by the significant disruptions in global supply chains. Unfortunately, being on the developing side of the world means your shipments get deprioritized first. Your supply chain gets disrupted first. Thankfully, we managed to secure materials for chronic medications as well as COVID-related medications.

We also realized that the failure of health care systems in more fortunate countries meant that those systems would fall further in most of our markets. The challenges involved in operating in poor or underdeveloped countries in the region intimidate most international companies. The duty of ensuring the timely availability and accessibility of life-saving medicine for those whom everyone else has forgotten therefore falls upon us and our short list of allies.

Why did you determine that Eva Pharma’s COVID-related efforts should also include virtual information sharing and support sessions for health care professionals in Egypt, Italy, and Spain?

RA: In Egypt, our so-called “White Army” of doctors and nurses has come under severe strain given the surge in the number of COVID patients. We recently launched a campaign to provide them with mental health services and counseling sessions via video calls, as well as peer support. We’ve also provided health care professionals with widely unavailable vitamins and minerals, including vitamins C and D, to bolster their immunity. And through platforms like Zoom, we have encouraged experience-sharing among doctors and nurses in Egypt with their counterparts in Italy and in Spain. We’ve conducted hundreds of such webinars so far and have received very positive feedback from participants.

In spite of all the negatives brought about by the pandemic, do you see some positives coming out of this crisis?

RA: One positive is that this pandemic has led to a widespread acceleration in innovation, especially in the health care industry. Innovation tends to go hand-in-hand with accessibility and availability of health care solutions, which bodes well for low-income individuals and ultimately for our vision. It has also inspired a great deal of solidarity and hope, both of which are much needed, especially in developing nations. I believe another positive is that most people will begin to take better care of their health.

Of course there’s also the work/life balance. As a health care company, we have been fortunate in that our workflow has not been interrupted. In fact, we’re working at a faster pace than ever before and we’ve seen that it’s possible to do so from home. I’m a person who firmly believes in the value of hard work and making sacrifices, but if the hard work comes with fewer sacrifices, especially of my family time, I’m a much happier person.

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