UAE-based Julphar Gulf Pharmaceutical Industries, the largest generic pharmaceutical manufacturer in Middle East and North Africa (Mena), has announced sales revenue of Dh639 million ($173.97 million) in the first semester of this year.

The company also posted a net profit of Dh64 million ($17.42 million), said a statement from the company.

Julphar’s chairman Sheikh Faisal Bin Saqr Al Qasimi, said: “we are now moving forward towards achieving its objectives for 2020 to stay at the top of the regional market.”

“We are very proud of the success we have achieved since the beginning of the year. Dandasha has been launched during Q1 in the UAE to treat erectile dysfunction in adult men and by Q2, it has become a leader in its segment,” he said.

“And our flagship product Mebo is still leading the Saudi market. Furthermore – the company has kept its leading position in the UAE by achieving a robust double digit growth in Q2,” he added.

Al Qasimi continued: “I expect those achievements to benefit the company during the second semester of the year, and to further grow revenue and earnings.”

“Especially as we are committed to improve our working capital, continue our productivity efforts and cost saving initiatives. Despite the tough conditions impacting the pharmaceutical market in Saudi Arabia and currency headwinds in Egypt, good results were actually achieved in the region, where market has shown signs of improvement during the second quarter,” he said.

“With 34 new products registered in H1, this gives us reasons to be optimistic for the future,” he concluded.

OPENS PLANT IN SAUDI

Earlier, in May, it opened a new drug manufacturing facility built by a Middle East partnership in King Abdullah Economic City on the west coast of the Red Sea, north of Jeddah.

The $53 million, 75,000-sq-m Julphar Saudi Arabia plant was built by a joint venture between the UAE-based Julphar Gulf Pharmaceutical Industries, and Cigalah Group, a Saudi healthcare distributor. Julphar claims to be the largest generic drugmaker in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena).

Julphar will make both oral solid dose and oral liquid formulations. It will have the capacity to manufacture up to 1 billion tablets, 300 million capsules and 30 million bottles of syrups and suspensions a year, Sheikh Abdullah Bin Faisal Al Qasimi, vice-chairman of the board, said.

“The medicines will be manufactured locally, which will help reduce the cost of production and ensure all our high quality products are affordable to families in the kingdom,” Julphar’s chairman Sheikh Faisal Bin Saqr Al Qassimi said at the event.

The new Julphar facility in Saudi Arabia comes online after the country in 2015 made drugmakers cut the prices on drugs as falling oil prices squeezed the country’s budget. The UAE’s Ministry of Health cut prices on 280 products. The country has made several rounds of cuts since 2010. The project is reportedly the first Emirati-Saudi investment partnership in the pharmaceutical industry. But there has been a growing number of pharma projects in the region.

APPOINTS NEW GM

Meanwhile, the pharmaceutical major announced that its board of directors has appointed Jerome Carle as the company’s general manager.

The board expressed confidence in Carle’s aptitude and competence to make an immediate impact to the business, to lead the management team and to execute the company’s strategic objectives, said a statement.

Carle joined Julphar in January 2017 as chief financial officer. He has over 20 years of financial expertise in emerging markets and his broad experience has shown his ability to deliver results in challenging environments.

Carle said: “I am thrilled to serve a company that makes a real difference in patients and consumers’ quality of life. Julphar is uniquely positioned in the Middle East and African (MEA) markets to improve the healthcare system and I am proud to play a role in achieving our company’s mission,” he added.