MERCK Serono, a division of Merck KGaA, Germany, and a local manufacturer, Neopharma, have announced a partnership to locally produce Merck-branded medication in the UAE for distribution across the Middle East.

The company announced it was the first venture to produce Merck products for exports to the Middle East.

Initially, two Merck Serono products will be manufactured by Neopharma: Euthyrox, a hormone therapy requiring a very stringent sterile environment for production and packaging, and Glucophage, a standard oral treatment for people suffering from type 2 diabetes that helps control blood sugar levels. Production of both branded medications will begin in 2013.

“This partnership characterises our country’s rapidly developing healthcare industry and improved production capabilities, putting it on a par with international standards of pharmaceutical production,” said Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research and chairman of Neopharma.  

“Through this partnership, Merck Serono and Neopharma, with the support of the Ministry of Health, will exchange relevant knowledge to produce Merck-branded medicines, tying into the UAE government’s efforts towards developing quality within the pharmaceutical sector,” said Stefan Oschmann, Merck Serono CEO. “We believe that this partnership will optimise our service to patients in the region,” the official said.

Currently valued at approximately $1.4 billion and growing at 6.8 per cent annually, the UAE pharmaceutical market is one of the most developed markets in the Middle East, with a strong healthcare infrastructure and the highest per-capita medicine expenditure in the region, said Sheikh Nahyan.

Dr B R Shetty, managing director and CEO of Neopharma, said: “Unlike many pharmaceutical plants that were set up earlier in the UAE, our facility in Abu Dhabi is built on the concept of modular manufacturing and follows global benchmarks in manufacturing technology and efficient control methods, ensuring that Merck medicines will be made with the highest quality standards. Through transfer of knowledge, we will have the technical capabilities to produce more complex medicines, such as hormone therapies like Merck’s Euthyrox.”