Pharmaceutical market of KSA estimated at SR13.5 billion

The volume of pharmaceutical market in the Kingdom is estimated at nearly SR13.5 billion, including government procurement deals, local media said quoting experts.
Share of the private sector in the market is touching SR7 billion, the experts said.
Meanwhile, head of marketing at Nahdi Medical Company Husam Al-Qurashi said the number of individually-owned pharmacies in the Kingdom reaches 7,000 pharmacies but, however, there is scarcity in young Saudis working in local market and that 60 percent of graduates from pharmacy colleges are women.
He said local drugs factories have succeeded in producing alternative drugs for treatment of chronic diseases, carrying same specifications and high quality pharmaceutical standards of the origin countries but at lower prices.
The per capita consumption of medicines in the GCC and Arab countries stands at $52 and $3.2 per year, respectively. Share of Arab and GCC countries to the global consumption is estimated at 1.5 percent, the report said.
The pharmaceutical industries in the GCC countries are poised to achieve a compounded average growth rate (CAGR) of 7 percent to hit $10.8 billion (SR40.5 billion) by 2020, according to a report released by Alpen Capital.
This projected growth in pharmaceutical industries is attributed to a number of factors, including rising in life expectancy, increased awareness in health care, high occurrence of diseases emerging from new lifestyle, and compulsory medical insurance for employees, the report added.