ANKARA: Key growth drivers for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region were forecast at the recent CPhI Istanbul meeting with outsourcing, vaccine development and biotechnology emerging as major trends.
CPhI Istanbul, which attracted over 4,465 attendees and leading executives, brought together hosted buyers from countries such as Jordan, Iran, Lebanon, India, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Georgia, along with Turkish pharma companies for commercial discussions, knowledge sharing and analysis. And, over the next 5-years, experts forecast that regional outsourcing will continue to accelerate as governments seek to have more medicine produced locally.
Haluk Balcı, chief operating officer in Turkey in UBM EMEA (Istanbul), commenting on a CPhI Turkey pharma report released at the event – which showed the Turkish pharma economy having grown by 15.6% in the last year to reach 15.9 billion lira – added: “The biggest development in 2016 for the pharma industry is the initiative commenced by the government to reduce imports and increase local production in the pharma industry… Certainly the developments in localization will set the course of the Turkish pharma industry in the years to come.”
Overall, third party manufacturing is forecasted to expand in the MENA region as many companies do not want to have established assets everywhere, so decreasing the burden of headcount and direct exposure is important, especially if demand and volumes are not reaching the critical mass to have owned assets. As a result, third party manufacturing is the preferred option for multinationals and SMEs longing to enter the market.
