Saudi Arabia’s health sector transformation: can it advance the domestic manufacture of pharmaceuticals?

The Government of Saudi Arabia is seeking to expand the private sector’s role in providing healthcare services under its Vision 2030 and National Transformation Program. Some of these ambitious goals include plans to expand the privatization of government services, incorporate health IT and digital records, and increase the number of qualified Saudi nurses and licensed medical facilities.

In recent years, the government’s efforts to curb pharmaceuticals expenditure and promote local manufacturing have resulted in a fast-growing generics market. European, US, and Indian companies have established production facilities in the country – and in particular at the King Abdullah Economic Industrial Valley – providing a full range of products including antibiotics, diabetic treatments, cardiovascular drugs, and anticoagulants. So opportunities abound for additional manufacturers to establish a presence in the Kingdom, especially in vaccines, APIs, injectables, and biologics.

In this podcast interview, Musaed Alkholief, Associate Professor at the College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, and Consultant at King Abdullah Institute for Research and Consulting Studies discusses how biopharmaceutical companies can unlock those undoubted opportunities presented by the proposed transformation of Saudi Arabia’s health sector.