She doesn’t do talk shows. She doesn’t grace lifestyle magazine covers. Yet behind the closed doors of Morocco’s boardrooms, the name Myriam Giancarli is increasingly whispered as one to watch. At the helm of Pharma 5, one of the kingdom’s leading private labs, this 44-year-old Franco-Moroccan has quietly taken on a mission: to reshape a pharmaceutical market long dependent on imports and foreign-held patents.
From Discretion to Scale
For years, Pharma 5 was a respected name, but mostly a license-based manufacturer. The past decade has changed that. Under Giancarli’s watch, the lab has taken an assertive turn: vertical integration, new therapeutic lines, and deep industrial digitalisation.
The flagship? The Smart Factory in Bouskoura, opened in March 2023. A sleek structure of steel and sensors, packed with IoT tech and real-time monitoring. The investment? 300 million dirhams, partly backed by the state. The impact? A fivefold increase in production capacity. In an Africa still vulnerable to European supply chain breakdowns, that matters.
A Bet on Medical Cannabis
Another card Giancarli plays carefully: cannabidiol. In late 2024, Pharma 5 launched Morocco’s first locally made cannabidiol generic for drug-resistant epilepsy. It’s a cautious but strategic step into a still-nascent therapeutic segment. Unlike many regional peers, Pharma 5 owns the whole chain: licensed cultivation under ANRAC, local processing, regional distribution.
A small industrial milestone, but a clear signal: the company aims to capture high-margin niches, while protecting itself from import volatility.
The Giancarli Method: Quiet Influence
There’s nothing flashy in her approach. No bombastic rebranding campaigns. Just tight-knit links at the CGEM (Morocco’s employers’ union), a few appearances at pan-African CEO summits, and a knack for the backroom deals that secure licensing or supply contracts.
This isn’t the tale of a second-generation heiress: Giancarli comes off more as a strategist than a showrunner, negotiating plant expansions rather than media slots.
Why Investors Should Pay Attention
Pharma 5 isn’t a get-rich-quick stock. It’s a long play: a stable, privately held firm that has locked in domestic demand and is patiently building an African footprint. At a time when global supply chains look fragile, that model is more than comforting, it’s quietly compelling.
Far from the noise, Giancarli keeps building, sensor by sensor, license by license. And perhaps it’s in that silence that the next chapter of the Moroccan pharmaceutical industry is being written.
