Tuesday, 7 December 2010

FT.com / Middle East - Saudi changes attract drug companies

A confluence of strengthened patent protection and increased healthcare spending means that international drug companies are moving to expand in Saudi Arabia to tap what is the Gulf’s biggest pharmaceutical market.

But, with a lengthy and complicated drug licensing process and foreign ownership restrictions, overseas companies are forced to form partnerships with local drugmakers to guarantee that their products are legal and marketed, experts say.

For example Merck, the pharmaceutical company now known as MSD outside the US and Canada, signed a five-year licence agreement in October with Spimaco, a leading Saudi pharmaceuticals company, to commercialise and manufacture its products.

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