UAE pharma Julphar resumes exports to Saudi after suspension

Gulf Pharmaceutical Industries (Julphar) has received the approvals to resume exports to Saudi Arabia, it announced on Thursday.

The announcement comes after an inspection of Julphar’s manufacturing facilities by the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA).

The kingdom banned Julphar’s products in September 2018 for failing to meet regional standards and the company was working with the SFDA since then to get the ban lifted.

Read: Saudi halts import of some drugs from UAE’s Julphar

Sheikh Saqer Humaid Al Qasimi, chairman, Julphar, said: “We are pleased to announce that more than 100 products registered in Saudi Arabia will again be available in the market.

“We worked together [with the SFDA] to implement further improvements in our manufacturing processes as per recommendations highlighted in their report.”

Julphar also confirmed that it had started supplying the Saudi market from its new production facility at King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC) during the end of 2019.

The plant has an installed annual capacity for one billion tablets, 300 million capsules, 30m bottles of syrups/suspensions.

Ras Al Khaimah-based Julphar, one of the largest pharmaceutical manufacturers in the Middle East and Africa, employs more than 3,500 people and distributes pharmaceutical products to more than 50 countries.

However, the Abu Dhabi-listed company was forced to cut about 150 jobs, or 3 per cent of its workforce last year as part of a restructuring, Bloomberg reported.

Earlier this month, Julphar announced that it had appointed Essam Farouk as its new CEO to replace Jerome Carle, who resigned from the company last year as it faced mounting troubles.

Read: UAE-based pharma Julphar appoints new CEO