Saudi Arabia: 30,000 Attendees will join inaugural CPHI Middle East

11.12.2024

Efforts to build a new manufacturing, biomanufacturing and R&D hub in Saudi Arabia and across the wider Middle East are accelerating.

More than 30,000 pharma professionals and decision makers are expected to attend the inaugural CPHI Middle East at Riyadh Front Exhibition & Convention Center, Saudi Arabia (10-12 December, 2024). Pharma leaders predict this first CPHI event in the Kingdom will help speed up efforts to establish a robust domestic manufacturing base. 

Ahead of a keynote address, Hala Audi, CEO of Unizima, a consultancy specialising in public and private partnerships for bioproduction facilities in emerging markets, remarked: “The event’s success is just another indicator of the significant investment underway in the region. The rate of change is only accelerating, and the Kingdom is building pharma infrastructure at pace. The Government is rightly driving the momentum, by focusing on its strengths – a sizeable domestic market, growing scientific and medical talent, and financing power. I believe that with the right technology partnerships, the region is poised to build a biotech ecosystem that will compete with the best globally. Next generation technologies for vaccines and therapeutics including for instance RNA based treatments offer an opportunity for KSA and the region to leapfrog and lead the way in biotech.”

One key group looking to harness Saudi’s potential are Indian CDMOs, which are supporting emerging biotechs with product development in India and helping transfer manufacturing learnings and process development skills to the region’s burgeoning regional manufacturing base. Of the 400 companies exhibiting at CPHI Middle East, more than 80 will join from India, 65+ from Europe and over 90 from China.

The event is held under the patronage of the Saudi Ministry of Health, who will be among more than 160 experts presenting at the event. A Ministerial Panel on 10 December will outline the Kingdom’s strategy to develop a biopharma ecosystem, in alignment with the Kingdom’s vision to be the leading biotech hub in MENA by 2030 and globally by 2040. The Kingdom has ambitious plans to reduce its reliance on imported drugs. In fact, currently, Saudi Arabia imports over 81% of its generic medicines and 94 per cent of its medical devices, however, by 2030, the Kingdom aims to produce 40 percent of its drug needs domestically.