JEDDAH: Banaja Pharmaceuticals Company, a subsidiary of Banaja Holdings Ltd, the MENA region's partner of choice in international healthcare and one of Saudi Arabia's leading pharmaceutical and healthcare companies, has signed an exclusive agreement with the International Pediatric Nutrition Company (IPNC) to distribute its infant formula Almarai Enfamil A+in pharmacies and hospitals in Saudi Arabia. The IPNC is a joint venture between Almarai and Mead Johnson for local manufacturing of Infant Formulas in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The distribution agreement, the first of its kind, is for the Almarai Enfamil product line - a line of infant formulas tailored for the specific nutritional and development needs of infant and children. The infant formula market in the Kingdom is estimated to be worth approximately $300 million. According to Business Monitor, the value of Saudi Arabia's infant formula market is forecasted to post a compound annual growth rate of 6.52 percent through to 2014. bpc is a sales and marketing company representing 40 percent of the top ten global pharmaceutical companies including Roche, Pfizer, GSK, Sanofi-Aventis, Nestle, Seven Seas, MEDA and Amdipharm. bpc has a market penetration of more than 97 percent across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, selling its partners' brands to pharmacies, hospitals, retailers and wholesalers. The different therapeutic classes or disease areas that bpc currently covers are oncology, diabetes, cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases, dermatology, multivitamins and OTC products. Hani Dabbour, General Manager of Banaja Pharmaceuticals Co., said "this agreement enables bpc and IPNC to offer better infant nutrition in this fast growing market in the most cost effective and efficient way through our dedicated, extensive, pioneering and integrated distribution network in Saudi Arabia." IPNC combines Almarai's quality products with Mead Johnson's century-long heritage of pediatric science and dedication to providing infants with the best start in life, after or in combination with breast milk, as both IPNC and Banaja support breast feeding babies, as long as possible. Chuck Davin, IPNC general manager, added: "We are excited to be working with bpc on our soon to be locally manufactured Almarai Enfamil infant formulas and thus ensuring that our products are being distributed to their final destinations to the highest quality standards." Banaja has a deep commitment to improving the standards of healthcare across the MENA region and the group is well positioned for further expansion to maximize the potential of growing healthcare needs. Banaja has established thriving global partnerships with leading international pharmaceutical companies and constantly strives to find new international partners who will help expand the availability of high quality healthcare in Saudi Arabia and in the wider MENA region.
