Merck Serono Initiates First Multinational Partnership for Branded Drugs in the UAE
A distinctive partnership between Merck Serono and an Abu Dhabi manufacturer is the first of its kind that will develop branded drugs for the UAE.
Germany’s Merck Serono became the first multinational pharmaceutical company to team up with local drug producer Neopharma to create branded medication for the UAE. These two pharmaceutical players will collaborate to meet the regional demands of the UAE emerging market through exporting goods from Neopharma’s manufacturing source. The two drugs to be produced using Neopharma’s facilities are Euthyrox, a synthetic thyroid hormone and Glucophage, for individuals suffering from type 2 diabetes. The production of these drugs will begin in 2013.
Prior to this, the manufacturing sector in the UAE was small and only catered for basic medicines. It was a market wholly dependent on imports as in 2010, almost 64% of pharmaceutical imports came from Europe, about 8% from North America while another 8% came from the MENA region.A new drug manufacturing agreement that caters for specific medical needs in the UAE will help relieve this financial burden on the UAE.
Managing director and CEO of Neopharma Dr. B R Shetty said: “The UAE suffers from one of the highest prevalence of diabetes and other non-communicable diseases, approximately 827,000 people between the ages of 20 and 79 with diabetes in the UAE. This alliance will provide increased supply of trusted branded medicines needed to help ease the diabetes crisis which is straining the financial resources of the UAE.”
Additionally, this partnership will increase the availability of medicines in the UAE while improving sales for Merck. Chief Executive of Merck Serano Stefan Oschmann also commented on the agreement saying: “We believe that this partnership will optimize our service to patients in the region. After careful consideration of the production capabilities of various companies across the Middle East, we identified Neopharma as having the most advanced, European-standard manufacturing facilities capable of producing significant quantities of both hormone and regular pharmaceutical drug products.”
Merck’s future pipeline of profits does not end here. Recently, Merck revealed plans to expand its chemical division in Indonesia. Their chemical division in Indonesia currently holds only 20% of the market share. Director of this division at Merck Indonesia Martin Feulner explained that the biggest growth in this sector will come from the sale of biotech products under the Merck Millipore brand that was acquired two years ago. He said: “We only hold 6 percent of the market share of such products in Indonesia now but we expect to acquire 30 percent over the next five years.”