RIYADH — The Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar Al-Khorayef confirmed that the Ministry aims to localize between 80% and 90% of Saudi Arabia's need for insulin. Al-Khorayef made the remarks, on Sunday, while participating in the Global Health Forum in Riyadh. He indicated that the Ministry is keen to attract qualitative investment in the pharmaceutical, and health care sectors, as well as to export to foreign markets. Since the establishment of the Treatments Localization and Development Committee in 2020, to achieve health and drug security and is concerned with identifying the national needs for medical drugs, it has received more than 1,000 pharmaceutical preparations from several agencies such as the Ministry of Health, The Saudi Food and Drugs Authority (SFDA), in addition to other relevant authorities, There were more than 200 priority treatments counted, constituting approximately 40% of the total purchases of government health agencies, which amount to approximately SR14 billion, the minister said, indicating that they are currently working to localize some of these medicines. Al-Khorayef said that the Vaccines and Biopharmaceuticals Industry Committee came to complete the Treatments Localization and Development Committee, as well as to include a number of ministers and stakeholders. The Vaccines and Biopharmaceuticals Industry Committee is working on studying and localizing a number of vital pharmaceutical preparations, including vaccines, insulin, plasma derivative products, as well as all medications and biosimilars, whose localization rate, according to the prepared strategies, will exceed more than 70%. The number of pharmaceutical factories registered in the Industry and Mineral Resources Ministry reached to 84 factories, of which, 48 factories are licensed by SFDA, with total investments approaching SR7 billion, the minister said. He added that the number of medical devices and equipment factories reached 148 factories licensed by SFDA, with total investments approaching SR3.1 billion. Sudair City for Industry and Businesses will be the most important in manufacturing medicines and medical equipment devices in Saudi Arabia, he noted. Al-Khorayef confirmed that the Ministry is working on this file in accordance with a comprehensive perspective, in integration with a number of parties in order to attract more foreign investments to the health care sector in Saudi Arabia. The Ministry is also working on increasing the percentage of the local content in the healthcare field, in addition to increasing exports of pharmaceutical industries, which have so far amounted to approximately SR1.5 billion.
