Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) has announced plans to set up its Middle East and Africa regional office within DuBiotech, a free zone dedicated to facilitating and fostering the growth of the life sciences industry in the UAE and a member of world class developer and operator of business parks, Tecom Investments.

The GCC countries have the highest levels of imported medicines in the world. Over 80 per cent of drugs required in UAE are manufactured internationally while healthcare expenditure in the GCC region is expected to swell to $79 billion by 2015.

By attracting long-established bodies such as PhRMA to the UAE, DuBiotech aims to address the imbalance of over-reliance on imported drugs by stimulating the innovation and manufacture of locally-produced medicines through strategic collaboration and knowledge sharing, said a senior official.

PhRMA was formed in 1958 to represent America’s leading biopharmaceutical researchers and biotechnology companies. It focuses on advocating for public policies that encourage the discovery of life-saving and life enhancing new medicines for patients by biopharmaceutical companies.

PhRMA’s member companies spent an estimated $48.5 billion in 2012 to discover and develop new medicines, 300 of which have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in the last decade.

Marwan Abdulaziz Janahi, the executive director of DuBiotech said: "We are delighted to welcome PhRMA as a new partner in the DuBiotech freezone. The organization brings unrivalled expertise, experience and knowledge of the pharmaceutical and innovative medicine and that is exactly the area of the industry we are trying to kick start in Dubai."

“The hybrid of technical expertise and community infrastructure found within our business park coupled with the proximity to strategic markets, domestic growth potential, improvements in regulations and close connectivity to Government have proved to be the key drivers of growth for DuBiotech and indeed the wider sciences cluster,” added Janahi.

On the new office, Jonathan Kimball, PhRMA deputy VP for Middle East and Africa, said "Dubai is a natural place to establish our office as the UAE health authorities have developed a robust advanced health sector and services in the country that provide its citizens and residents with quality care and access to medicines."

According to him, most of PhRMA member companies have established their Middle East & Africa regional offices and operations in Dubai.

The regional office will be headed by Samir Khalil, PhRMA’s executive director for Middle East and Africa, who brings more than 30 years of industry expertise to the region.

"The long-term vision, investment and innovation policies of the UAE over the last several years encouraged the global innovative medicines industry to bring regional operations into the UAE," observed Kimball.

“We believe the UAE offers tremendous potential for growth for the biopharmaceutical industry as the UAE rise as a serious global competitor in the life sciences sector,” he added.-TradeArabia News Service