Teranga Pharma, a Senegalese pharmaceutical company, has produced the first sickle cell disease treatment manufactured on African soil, marking a significant step toward medical self-sufficiency for a continent that bears nearly 80 percent of the global disease burden. The drug, called Drepaf, is a generic version of hydroxyurea — the WHO-recommended treatment that reduces painful crises, hospitalisations, and premature death — and was launched in November 2025, backed by $7.1 million in funding. Africa has long depended on costly imported hydroxyurea from Europe and the Americas, leaving many patients without access; Teranga Pharma says it is already supplying Burkina Faso, Guinea, and Ivory Coast, has received requests from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, and Cameroon, and aims to serve the entire sub-Saharan continent by 2030.