PHARMA CHAIN
Abu Dhabi to strengthen its capabilities as a Life Sciences Hub The Pharma collaboration with Belgium will establish a fully compliant origin-to-destination pharma air corridor
Led by the Department of Health–Abu Dhabi, the Hope Consortium, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, and Abu Dhabi Airports Company have collaborated to strengthen the Emirate’s positioning as a life science hub.
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bu Dhabi has set its sights on Belgium, as a leading global pharmaceutical hub, to establish a global distribution corridor to serve the world in vaccine delivery and future life science needs. The collaboration builds on the capabilities of Abu Dhabi’s healthcare sector as a leading life sciences hub and the efforts of the HOPE Consortium in providing vaccine solutions for the world. This initiative entailed a delegation visit from Belgium to Abu Dhabi, hosted by the Department of Health – Abu Dhabi (DoH). The visit saw the signing of two declarations of collaboration between Belgium and Abu Dhabi, witnessed by Abdullah bin Mohammed Al Hamed, Chairman of DoH (Department of Health) and Peter Claes, Ambassador of Belgium in the UAE. The first agreement was between the HOPE Consortium, Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC), Brussels Airport Company and Pharma.Aero. Led by the Department of Health – Abu Dhabi, the regulator of the healthcare sector in the emirate,
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the collaboration aims to establish a fully compliant origin-todestination pharma air corridor between Abu Dhabi and Brussels Airports. The dedicated pharma trade lane will unite key compliant and sector certified supply chain stakeholders, including forwarders and ground handling agents.
World-class pharma logistics hub “Our goal is to enhance Abu Dhabi’s positioning as a worldclass pharma logistics hub and a destination focused on global welfare by investing in strategic public and private sector collaborations, and the allocation of expertise and resources,” commented Dr. Jamal Al Kaabi, Undersecretary of the Department of Health, Abu Dhabi. Earlier this year, a delegation from the HOPE Consortium met with pharmaceutical industry stakeholders in Brussels to showcase Abu Dhabi’s global vaccine distribution success. Thanks to its network of partners, the HOPE Consortium has handled over 200 million
doses of Covid-19 vaccines, contributing to vaccination programmes in over 40 global destinations. Western Europe currently ranks as the world’s second-largest pharmaceutical export market with a total export value of nearly EUR 42bn (US$ 47.57bn) in 2020.“Brussels Airport is the leading hub serving the pharmaceutical and life sciences industry in Europe with over 750 million vaccines handled at the airport, serving 60 destinations worldwide,” stated Nathan De Valck, Head of Cargo, Brussels Airport. Knowledge sharing Captain Mohamed Juma Al Shamisi, Chairman of the HOPE Consortium Executive Committee and Group CEO of AD Ports Group, added that the proactive sharing of knowledge and expertise among stakeholders remains vital to the partnership’s ongoing success.“The HOPE Consortium, along with our partners, has developed one of the most extensive end-to-end vaccine supply chains, capable of
