SPIMACO, AstraZeneca UK ink deal to produce 17 drugs in Saudi

Saudi Pharmaceutical Industries & Medical Appliances Corp. (SPIMACO) will sign today a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with AstraZeneca UK Limited to locally produce a number of cancer medicines in SPIMACO’s pharmaceutical plant in Qassim.

Under the agreement, the production of 17 drugs used in cancer treatments will be completely nationalized, SPIMACO said in a statement to Tadawul.

Average annual sales of these drugs are expected to range from SAR 300 million to SAR 400 million, according to the date of their release into the local market.

The cancer drug factory in Qassim is estimated to cost up to SAR 245 million, a SAR 45 million increase from the cost previously approved by SPIMACO’s board of directors back in 2015.

Project completion is expected by the end of Q3 2019. In parallel, SPIMACO will work on developing and registering a number of drugs.

The deal will come into effect immediately and it has no related parties, the statement said.

Further developments and financial impact will be revealed as they occur.