Riyadh – Mubasher: Medicines that treat cancer tumors will be domestically manufactured in the Saudi market as of 2020, Saudi Pharmaceutical Industries and Medical Appliances Company’s (Spimaco) CEO Fahad bin Ibrahim Alkhalaf said.

Spimaco aims to raise its stake in the pharmaceutical industry to 2% of the gross domestic product (GDP), Alkhalaf added during an interview with Al Arabiya TV.

The CEO noted that Spimaco’s cooperation with the Swiss company Hoffman La Roche aims at increasing the domestic pharmaceuticals industry to 40% from 20%.

The Saudi pharmaceuticals sector grew between 5% and 6% over the previous two years, Alkhalaf noted.

On Sunday 15 April, the Saudi pharmaceuticals industry firm announced signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Switzerland-based Hoffman La Roche to start Saudisation of cancer drugs manufacturing in the kingdom.

The deal entails manufacturing a number of drugs, including three pharmaceutical compounds in the first phase.