The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has offered a number of investment opportunities in the vaccines and vital medicines industry with a value of 3.4 billion dollars, in order to achieve the Kingdom’s directions aimed at achieving pharmaceutical and health security, and making Saudi Arabia an important center for this promising industry.
The Saudi Press Agency quoted Bandar bin Ibrahim Al-Khorayef, Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources, head of the Committee for the Industry of Vaccines and Bio-Drugs in the Kingdom, as saying that the targeted pharmaceutical sectors in general, whose value exceeds five billion dollars, will pass through several stages, starting with vaccines and vital medicines, as the first stage will focus on localizing vaccine technologies. He stressed the importance of transferring their full technologies to contribute mainly to building the Kingdom’s own capabilities in these sectors and achieving health and pharmaceutical security while reducing the high cost on the state budget, which currently imports 100% of vaccines and vital pharmaceutical products, while the vital pharmaceutical sector enjoys The fastest growth rate in the market among all pharmaceutical sectors with an annual rate of 17%.
Al-Khorayef noted that the Vaccines and Biopharmaceuticals Industry Committee will focus in the first phase on localizing basic children’s vaccines and building the necessary self-capacities and manufacturing platforms; To combat future pandemics, passing through insulin to treat diabetes patients and then support plasma collection centers with a world-class factory; To achieve self-sufficiency in plasma derivatives, while the second phase will focus on the localization of immunotherapy and cancer therapies, where the size of the vital sector is estimated at more than two billion dollars annually, of which insulin represents approximately 340 million dollars.
