Acino’s Dubai facility plays key role in UAE’s pharmaceutical sector growth

Sajjad Ahmad, Deputy Business Editor

Acino’s 1,300-sqm manufacturing site, ramping up annual production capacity to over 250 million tablets and 87 million capsules.

“Acino’s mission is to strengthen the UAE healthcare sector and contribute to the local economy, said Mansoor Meenai, Interim Head, Middle East, Turkey, and Africa (META), at Acino.

He said, “Acino sees the establishment of its Dubai facility as a clear commitment to the UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention’s vision for a stronger, more sustainable healthcare sector.”

Speaking to journalists after the media tour of the facility, Meenai said, “The ADQ-owned company aims to increase country’s pharmaceutical exports and to support the supply chain stability and medicine security for the UAE and its neighbouring countries.”

He added, “the facility has witnessed tremendous growth in the recent past and all set to be a big player in the regions’s pharmaceutical industry in the coming years.”

About the expansion of Dubai’s facility, he added, “We reviewed capacity production and have plan to expand the facility according to market demands. We are working closely with other manufacturers in the country.”

On regional expansion strategy, he explained, “Definitely, Acino is focusing on emerging market in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia is a very big and growing market for us and we are looking forward for opportunities in Saudi Arabia to expand our manufacturing footprints. Currently we have our own company in Saudi Arabia and investing more money for expansion.”

“At the moment we are exporting our product to some parts of GCC and Iraq. we are in the process of certification and registration in various regional and European countries.”

Acino’s Dubai plant is an EU-GMP, SFA and GCC-certified manufacturing site, stamps of approval that are expected to engender renewed trust in the regional pharmaceutical supply chain. The plant will also support industry growth alongside the improvement of service access for patients, enhanced quality of care, and more favorable treatment outcomes.

Mansoor Meenai concluded, ““A healthy nation is a productive nation; and a productive nation is a competitive nation, a prosperous nation, a sustainable nation.

Everything we do at Acino is to ensure the right medicines get to those who need them most, and to overcome barriers of cost, geography, and logistics. By establishing our Dubai manufacturing facility, we not only send a strong message of our national and regional commitments. We take a vital step towards supply chain integrity and medicine security across the GCC and beyond.”