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29 March 2024

Gulf pharma sales at $4bn

Published
By Maha Obeid
 
 

Pharma World Holdings (PWH), the first third-party logistics pharmaceutical storage and distribution firm in the Middle East, plans to capture seven per cent of drugs and medicine sales in the next seven years.

Maher Jamil Kheder, Business Development Group Director of PWH, said yesterday the GCC pharmaceutical industry was worth $4bn (Dh14.6bn) in sales each year.

PWH was launched in November 2007, with Dh30 million funding from Ithmar Capital, Fund I in the UAE and Banaja International Group in Saudi Arabia. Work began this month on the 10,000 square metre facility at Jebel Ali Free Zone. It will be fully operational by January 2010.

Having completed the five-year strategy plan for PWH, Kheder said the company is negotiating with international pharmaceutical companies to handle their logistics, which are centralised providing storage and inventory management, as well as purchasing and re-invoicing to the distributor.

Kheder said Dubai operations would be the first phase. The second phase will see warehouses in Saudi Arabia and in Egypt.