Saudi Arabia announces investment opportunities in vaccines and vital medicines industry

Bandar bin Ibrahim Alkhorayef, Saudi Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources and Chairman of the Manufacturing Vaccines and Vital Medicines Committee, announced the launch of several investment opportunities in the vaccines and vital medicines industry, valued at US$3.4 billion.

The move is aimed to achieve the Kingdom’s goals aimed at achieving pharmaceutical and health security, and making Saudi Arabia an important center for this promising industry.

According to the Saudi Press Agency the Minister stressed that the targeted pharmaceutical sectors in general, whose value exceeds US$5 billion, will be implemented in several stages, starting with vaccines and vital medicines, as the first phase will focus on localising vaccines, plasma, and insulin technologies, stressing the importance of transferring their full technologies to contribute mainly to building the Kingdom’s capabilities in these sectors and achieving health and pharmaceutical security while reducing the high cost on the state budget, which currently imports 100 percent of vaccines and vital pharmaceutical products, while the vital medicines sector enjoys the fastest growth rate in the market among all pharmaceutical sectors with an annual rate of 17 percent.

Alkhorayef said that the Manufacturing Vaccines and Vital Medicines Committee will focus in the first phase on localising basic children’s vaccines and building the necessary self-capacities and manufacturing platforms to combat future pandemics, followed by insulin production to treat diabetes patients and then support plasma collection centres with a world-class factory to achieve self-sufficiency in plasma derivatives, while the second phase will focus on localising immunological and cancer treatments technologies, where the size of this vital sector is estimated at more than US$2 billion annually, of which insulin represents approximately US$340 million.