Tuesday, december 14, 2021 khaleej times
The Evolution of the Pharmaceutical Industry KHALEEJ TIMES ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT
Beyond the pill The UAE’s pharmaceutical industry looks big for next economic boom Anam Khan
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he UAE’s pharma market was predicted to grow to USD four billion in 2020, representing a CAGR of 8.5 per cent from 2019. The country sits at the heart of the Middle East which, although only making up two per cent of the global pharmaceutical industry, has been growing at a rate of ten percent and is therefore increasingly attracting the eye of international investors. UAE is one of the first countries to recover, and remains a sought-after location for foreign investors. With Covid-19 continuing to be a threat, healthcare expenditures in the UAE was expected to rise to $21.3 billion by 2021 which is projected to account for 4.6 per cent of the country’s GDP by 2026. To achieve sustainable growth for the healthcare and pharmaceutical industry the U.A.E. government has adopted a series of long-term plans. The Dubai Industrial Strategy 2030 and the Abu Dhabi vision 2030, consider the pharmaceutical industry as one of the main sub sectors to develop with its future growth prospects, export potential and mid-term to long-term economic impact. A key long-term focus for the UAE government has been to reduce their reliance on imported pharmaceuticals. A report by the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry estimated the volume of UAE imports of pharmaceutical products at Dh14.9 billion in 2018. In the one year, companies in the UAE exported Dh1.2 billion worth of pharmaceuti-
cal products and re-exported to the value of Dh 3.8 billion. Local manufacturing of pharmaceuticals is now a primary goal for the government, the ministry of health and legislating authorities. An overview The UAE is also focusing on drawing international pharmaceutical companies to establish and expand their presence in the country. In addition to its growing domestic market, the UAE boasts a strategic location and sophisticated logistics infrastructure especially with the recent approval of the Dubai Silk Road, which makes it an ideal hub to access growing regional markets in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. The UAE has also created several free zones across the country that have become hubs for the pharmaceutical industry for example: Dubai Healthcare City, Dubai Science Park and Jebel Ali Free Zone. Global company Viatris is empowering the pharma industry in the UAE with their innovative and sustainable developments in the healthcare field, transforming the landscape of the industry. Viatris is American pharmaceutical company which is a Pfizer’s off patent medicine division. The pharmaceutical industry today is in a state of flux as it tries to maintain a delicate balance between the need for novel blockbuster drugs and the need for improved operational efficiencies in an increasingly competitive market space. Under the campaign of ‘Made in UAE’, company like Pharmax takes pride in its large product portfolio focussing on an expansion either by way of technology and development. As the UAE continues to reinforce innovation across all sectors, the industry supports the UAE’s vision to become an international hub for pharmaceutical manufacturing.
Viatris a New Global Healthcare Company with a Strong Footprint Tamer El-Sallab, Head of Gulf and Levant at Viatris, explains what the company is all about, highlighting the challenges and opportunities currently shaping the sector Can you tell us more about Viatris and its presence and footprint in the UAE? First, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the UAE leadership and people for all the exemplary achievements, prosperity, and continuous development throughout the past 50 years, and wish the United Arab Emirates all the best in its role of shaping the future of the next generations in the country and across the region. Viatris is a new global healthcare company that was formed in November 2020 through the combination of Mylan and Upjohn, a legacy division of Pfizer, with the mission to empower people worldwide to live healthier at every stage of life, regardless of geography or circumstance. Through providing access to medicines, advancing sustainable operations, developing innovative solutions and leveraging our collective expertise, we are able to connect more people to more products and services. In the UAE, Viatris has a legacy footprint that spans more than 40 years that encompasses diversified portfolio and partnerships aimed at supporting the country’s vision to be a centre of excellence across the region. In addition, Viatris has a distribution centre in the UAE to meet the growing healthcare demand in the region.
Viatris is a new global healthcare company that was formed in November 2020 through the combination of Mylan and Upjohn, a legacy division of Pfizer
Tamer El-Sallab What are the major challenges that the healthcare sector is currently facing, especially in the Gulf region? Covid-19 is the major challenge that the healthcare sector has been facing recently across the world and in our cluster. However, as we are fighting this global pandemic, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as heart diseases, diabetes, cancer, and other NCDs, continue to be the leading cause of death and disability worldwide, representing 71 per cent of global mortality. This entails the need for better collaboration and meaningful partnerships between the public and private sectors to shape policies, enable medical education, and enhance capability building programmes that support better health to everyone.
What is Viatris doing to support better management of NCDs in UAE and the region? Overcoming the challenge of NCDs is a collective effort of all parties across the healthcare sector, from regulators to payers, healthcare professionals, insurance companies, and patients. At Viatris, we bring innovative approaches and programs in an effort to drive positive outcomes for people living with NCDs across the Gulf and Levant cluster. Some examples are the: ‘Keep on Beating’ campaign that we launched in partnership with the UAE Ministry of Health & Prevention: a multielement public campaig that aims to increase awareness on cardiovascular risks. ‘Health Matters with Dr Adam’ initiative launched in collaboration with Emirates Airline and the UAE Ministry of Health & Prevention: an animated series of videos designed to increase health literacy as part of inflight infotainment. With only about half of the global population able to receive essential health services, there is much to be done to ensure sustainable access to medicines worldwide. At Viatris, we reinforce our strong foundation and commitment of providing sustainable access to highquality medicine, regardless of geography or circumstance.
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Viatris is committed to helping improve the lives of people around the world by increasing their access to well-known, trusted medicines, helping them live healthier at every stage of life. Because better access leads to better health. To learn more, please visit Viatris.com ©2021 Viatris Inc. All Rights Reserved. VIATRIS, the Viatris Logo and EVERYWHERE HEALTH MATTERS are trademarks of Mylan Inc., a Viatris Company. The Pfizer Logo is a registered trademark of Pfizer Inc. WTO4ES7M-031021
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khaleej times Tuesday, december 14, 2021
THE EVOLUTION of the Pharmaceutical Industry
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Affordable Healthcare Pharmax Pharmaceuticals is turning the dream of healthcare access for all in the UAE into a reality through its EU approved affordable high quality generic medicines
The Tech-Pharma Revolution Digital transformation in the pharma industry is apparent and here to stay Following the Covid-19 outbreak, as with several others, the pharmaceutical industry faced a major shift in operations global and locally. While traditionally the medical representative was primarily responsible for building the gap between the healthcare professionals and products, post pandemic, the demand for technological transition loomed stronger. Early this year, the UAE’s Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology (MoIAT) held the fourth session of its Future of Industry Dialogue, which was a series to discuss ways to drive the growth witnessed in the pharmaceutical and medical industries in a post-Covid economy. Ensuring this growth will depend on strategic plans forward, reinforcing critical supply chains and establishing a wider network of global partners, according to Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology. Dr Al Jaber said that the crucial enabler of the healthcare industry was the adoption of advanced technologies. He also commended the collective efforts of the public and private sectors in responding to the pandemic, from manufacturing personal protective equipment (PPE) to the distribution and testing of vaccines. Several locally based pharmaceutical companies have been expanding their reach towards global players to secure rights to produce affordable medicines locally. The Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP) has advised international pharmaceutical companies to apply for marketing approval for their products in the UAE before being approved in the manufacturing country, according to WAM. The ministry also discussed the use of information and data for innovative pharmaceutical products, which grants innovative medicines protection for its data for eight years. This can help contribute to attracting innovative medicines to the country, enhancing the healthcare sector with curative and preventive solutions that serve the interests of patients, and support medical tourism, the statement reported.
billion by 2025. According to the IQVIA Pharmaceutical Market Insights Report, the UAE national pharmaceutical manufacturing industry is led by Julphar Gulf Pharmaceutical Industries, which is the largest generic pharmaceutical manufacturer in the Middle East and North Africa followed by Medpharma, Pharmax, Neopharma and Global Pharma who are considered as one of the leading domestic pharmaceutical companies. The pharma industry in Dubai also falls well within the brackets of the Dubai International Strategy which has five key strategies in place including increasing the total output and value of the manufacturing sector, as well as enhancing knowledge and innovation. The Abu Dhabi Vision 2030 also considers this industry as one of its primary areas of focus, especially in the light of unforeseen crises such as the corona virus outbreak. With the opening of the Dubai Science Park (DSP), the first pharmaceutical manufacturing plant in emirate, the nation can reduce reliance on imports of pharmaceutical products. Operated by Pharmax Pharmaceuticals (Pharmax), the $34 million plant helped produce more than 200 million tablets and medicines to cater towards the growing number of lifestyles diseases and chronic conditions, which have grown in number in recent years. Abu Dhabi has recently set sights on Belgium to establish a global distribution corridor to better serve global vaccination demands and future life sciences requirements. An agreement was signed between the HOPE Consortium, Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC), Brussels Airport Company and Pharma. This collaboration was led by the Department of Health Abu Dhabi and ‘aims to establish a fully compliant origin-to-destination pharma air corridor between Abu Dhabi and Brussels Airports.’ This specific pharma air corridor is expected to unite key compliant and sector certified supply chain stakeholders, including forwarders and ground handling agents. Its development will leverage API-IoT devices-webforms-internet shared with all relevant stakeholders to monitor pharma shipments closely. Furthermore, the Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP) recently advised international pharma companies to apply for marketing approval for products in the UAE before being approved in the manufacturing country.
Supplying the Demand The Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry estimates the worth of the UAE’s pharma market at $3 billion. This market value is predicted to rise to $6.8
Technology Driven From advanced analytics to artificial intelligence (AI), several technologies have the power to help in the digital transformation in the pharmaceutical industry.
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Pharmax Pharmaceuticals FZ LLC is a UAE-based pharmaceutical company which manufactures and markets affordable, branded generic medication. Pharmax is part of ADQ, one of the region’s largest holding companies with a broad portfolio of major enterprises spanning key sectors of Abu Dhabi’s diversified economy. Our objective is to manufacture and package branded generic products, mainly of small molecule and oral solid dosage (OSD) pharmaceuticals across a wide range of therapeutic areas such as cardiology, diabetes, gastroenterology and neurology. In doing so, we can increase the availability of pharmaceuticals in the UAE and tackle chronic medical conditions most prevalent in the nation, such as hypercholesteremia, diabetes, and hypertension; gastrointestinal disorders including peptic ulcer and gastro esophagus reflux disorders; diseases of the central nervous system such as mood disorders, generalised anxiety disorders, epilepsy, and bipolar disorders; respiratory illnesses including asthma, congestive obstructive disorders, allergic rhinitis, pain, and inflammation; and most recently, we expanded to include diseases associated with women’s health. The state-of-the-art Pharmax facility, located at Dubai Science Park, is accredited by the UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention (MOHAP) and the European Union. It is equipped with cutting-edge production equipment from Europe and has the capacity to produce 300 million units of tablets and capsules per year. The UAE’s pharmaceutical industry is one of the fastest growing in the region, valued at more than Dh10 billion. Characterised by a growing and aging population as well as rising healthcare costs, demand for high quality pharmaceuticals in the region is expanding rapidly. Pharmax has set its sight on capturing this demand by enabling access to affordable branded and generic products and contributing to the improvement of patient compliance and the reduction of overall healthcare costs. Pioneered by MOHAP, the UAE has spearheaded rigorous efforts to elevate locally manufactured pharmaceutical products that meet and exceed in-
Madhukar Tanna CEO Pharmax Pharmaceuticals FZ LLC ternational standards. With their continued guidance and support, the UAE is on a clear trajectory to becoming a regional pharma manufacturing hub of affordable medication that balances cost and quality and addresses the nation’s healthcare needs of the future. Pharmax takes pride in its highly skilled and motivated technical team and sales force who solely focus on delivering the highest quality medicines to our patients. We thrive on our partnerships with many international companies that have supported us as we strive to expand our capabilities through knowledge transfer, innovative technologies, and contract manufacturing. Moreover, we are committed to responding directly to market and health challenges by maintaining constant, two-way communication with physicians and pharmacists across the UAE to guarantee our products are tailored effectively. In addition to our large product portfolio, we are embarking on regional expansion into neighboring markets — including the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan and Lebanon. Over the next few years, we also aspire to expand our footprint into Africa. Pharmax’s broad range of generic and complex drugs are among the most trusted in the UAE with our products available at the most visited healthcare facilities, clinics, and pharmacies in both the public and private sectors.
As with the rest of the industries in the fourth industrial revolution, Pharma 4.0 can benefit enormously from rapidly evolving technologies such as the internet of things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, and advanced computing to dramatically change the landscape of manufacturing. Over decades, manufacturing practices for the production of medicines have advanced from small-scale manual processing with simple tools to large-scale production as part of a trilliondollar pharmaceutical industry. The latest digital technologies can help by eliminating nonvalue add processes, giving decision-makers visibility on product quality and consistency faster than before, but also providing them with deeper insights that would previously have been out of reach, according to experts in the market. The next generation of pharmaceutical manufacturing is hugely depended on how these technologies can be deployed to digital maturity of Industry 4.0. One such transition is Process development (PD) in the pharmaceutical industry. This involves more data-driven decision-making and risk assessment than ever. Under the new models, ‘companies use more data, automation, and modeling to reduce risks and establish a holistic, transferable control strategy.’ As data is the new oil, tomorrow’s factory will also be driven using data. In the world of ‘plug and produce’ the driving force of digital transformations, more tools and solutions will become available to support these types of manufacturing, businesses with enterprise-wide approaches to digital data and move towards a data-driven decision-making process that will eventually help optimise operations and reduce costs. [1564423]