Friday 5 December 2008

Saudi pharmaceutical industry

The USD 1bn Saudi pharmaceutical market is structuraly well positioned to benefit from growing population and rising demand fo health care in the region. The local players remain focused on basic medicines but this is no bad place to be in a country where the governement has only recently become focused on the cost of treatment.

There are 27 pharmaceutical manaufacturing companies in the Kingdom. The largest are Saudi Pharmaceutical Insdustries and Medical Appliances Corporation (SPIMACO), TABUK, Al Jazeera, Dal Al Dawa and Riyadh Pharma. Riyadh is the fastest growing. SPIMACO is our prefered listed name with over 170 brands under license from names such as Eli Lilly, Schering-Plough and GlaxoSmithKine.

Saudi Arabia is on the USTR Watch List for infringement of intelectual property rights.

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