UAE’s Julphar Sees 19% Growth In Q1 Sales Revenues

UAE-based pharmaceutical firm Julphar has announced sales revenues of Dhs393.5 million during the first quarter of 2014, up 19.2 per cent from the same period last year.

The revenues during Q1 2014 were mainly driven by private market sales, which grew year-on-year by 14.3 per cent, the company said in a statement.

Gross profit rose 18.3 per cent to reach Dhs237.1 million in Q1 2014 while the net profit for the quarter was Dhs70.1 million, up 12 per cent year-on-year, the statement said.

The company also distributed around 10 per cent of profit in cash along with another 10 per cent in shares from a total capital amount of Dhs863 million.

The Ras Al Khaimah-based firm has been expanding its offering to address a wide range of lifestyles diseases in the Gulf.

Julphar recently announced that it has signed a five-year licensing deal with global healthcare provider MSD (Merck in the US and Canada).

According to the agreement, Julphar will have exclusive rights to produce, market, distribute and sell certain MSD medicines in UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and Iraq.

The local pharmaceutical giant will manufacture some MSD products, which include therapies for diabetes, asthma, allergy, pain and inflammation, for the first time in this region.

Julphar, whose revenues soared 15.4 per cent to reach Dhs1.3 billion in 2013, has been particularly cashing in on the prevalence of diabetes in the Gulf.

The company opened a $180 million plant in September 2012 that manufactures raw crystals, used to produce insulin.

The facility has a production capacity of 1500 kilograms of insulin or up to 40 million vials a year. Julphar is the fifth largest insulin producer in the world and the only manufacturer for the drug in the Middle East.

“There are three main (insulin) manufacturers in the world and it is extremely difficult to get into this space,” Joseph Saldanha, general manager, Julphar Diabetes told reporters last year.

“They are able to supply a lot of what the world needs so when we recognised that four of the top 10 diabetic countries are in the Middle East, we felt that it was a good place to invest.”

With the new plant in operation, Julphar said that it has been able to offer insulin at an affordable price in the region while selling crystals to other manufacturers across the world.