Alliances help to bring success to Spimaco

ABDULLAH ABDULKADER President of Spimaco

JOINT VENTURE to manufacture raw materials for the pharmaceuticals industry is the latest advance for Saudi Pharmaceutical Industries and Medical Appliances Corporation (Spimaco), the Kingdom’s leading producer, promotor and distributor of drugs.

As part of an international consortium, Spimaco will manufacture Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) as a partner in the newly established CAD Middle East Pharmaceutical Industries.

Alliances with major international companies are central to the success of Spimaco, which has enjoyed an enviable financial performance over its 21 years of operation. Its licensing partners include Eli Lilly, Schering Plough, Vifor, and GSK. The company achieved a remarkable success in 2003 when it signed a deal with Eli Lilly, licensing Spimaco to produce and market Tadalafil under its own trade name, Snafi—the first Arab drug against impotence to enter the GCC market.

The company’s partners include Eli Lilly, Schering Plough, Vifor, GSK and now Scmidt BioMedTech

At the end of last year Spimaco announced an agency agreement under which the Malaysian company Schmidt BioMedTech will distribute and market its products. According to Spimaco’s President, Abdullah Abdulkader, Malaysia represents the cornerstone for expansion in the fast growing markets of southeastern Asia “We consider Malaysia as the starting point to the rest of the countries in the region,” he says.