Biocon, Tabuk Pharma ink pact to commercialise speciality generic drugs in Middle East

Bengaluru: Biocon Limited has recently announced a partnership with Tabuk Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Company (a fully owned subsidiary of Astra Industrial Group) to commercialise select speciality products in the Middle East.

Under the terms of this agreement, Tabuk Pharmaceuticals will hold the marketing authorization for these products and will be responsible to register, import, and promote them in Saudi Arabia and other Middle East countries. The partnership will pave the way for Biocon's expansion into the MENA region to include Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Iraq, in addition to Jordan and Lebanon.

As part of the out-licensing deal with Tabuk, Biocon will develop and manufacture the products, and Tabuk will commercialise them.

Siddharth Mittal, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Biocon Ltd, said, "Our partnership with Tabuk Pharmaceuticals is another significant step as we continue to expand our global presence with our portfolio of high quality, vertically-integrated generic formulations, to address unmet medical needs. We are extremely pleased to collaborate with Tabuk, whose deep expertise will help us build a solid foundation in key Middle East markets.

Mohammed Alhagbani, President of Astra Industrial Group, commented, "As part of our role and mission at Tabuk Pharmaceuticals to deliver unique health solutions and enhance the well-being of people in Saudi Arabia and countries we operate in, our partnership with as distinguished and renowned a company as Biocon, comes in as an evident choice to further support our mission in line with Saudi Vision 2030, regarding localizing speciality and value-added pharmaceutical products. As an innovation-led company we are driven by our purpose to enhance global healthcare through high quality, affordable biopharmaceuticals. We are leveraging advanced science, innovative tech platforms and international research collaborations to develop therapies that can lower treatment costs, increase access and improve healthcare outcomes".

Wisam Alkhatib, Vice President of Strategy and Business Development of Tabuk Pharmaceuticals added, "We are excited at Tabuk to partner with an innovation-led company like Biocon to commercialize difficult to make products that builds on our strategy to expand our specialty business and reinforces our leading position in the region. Our aspiration is to be the partner of choice to Biocon in the region and consider further collaboration with a rich pipeline of products.".

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