Eisai Co., Ltd. announced today that fully-fledged operations and business activities have begun at Eisai Pharmaceuticals Single Person Limited Liability Company (Eisai Saudi Arabia), a pharmaceutical sales subsidiary recently established in Riyadh in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Saudi Arabia). Eisai Saudi Arabia is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Eisai’s European regional headquarters, Eisai Europe Ltd. (Location: U.K.).
In the 1960s, Eisai started business in the Middle East marketing and selling Eisai products throughlocal distribution partners. In Saudi Arabia, Eisai began selling the peripheral neuropathy treatmentMethycobal® in 2009, and has since expanded the product pipeline with the launch of antiepileptic drug Fycompa® in 2018, anticancer drug Lenvima® in 2020, and others, through local distribution partners.Eisai Saudi Arabia was established in April 2024 in order to build an in-house sales system in Saudi Arabia, and is in the process of taking over commercial rights for the Eisai products in Saudi Arabia from local distribution partners. Eisai Saudi Arabia started sales and marketing activities for Methycobaland Fycompa in October 2024, and plans to expand activities to include Lenvima and anticancer agent Halaven® from April 2025. Moreover, an application for Alzheimer’s disease treatment lecanemab(generic name, global brand name: Leqembi®) has been submitted for review in Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia’s pharmaceutical market reached 11,342 million USD in 2023, making it the largest market in the Middle East, with an average growth rate of 7% in local currency terms from 2019 to 2023.1With the commencement of operations at Eisai Saudi Arabia, Eisai aims to utilize its own drug salessystem in Saudi Arabia, deliver innovative new drugs to more patients in the country as quickly aspossible, and contribute to improving the benefits of patients and their families.
1. Outline of Eisai Saudi Arabia
1) Company Name: Eisai Pharmaceuticals Single Person Limited Liability Company
2) Location: Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
3) Scope of Business: Import and marketing of pharmaceutical products
4) Charter Capital: 32,800,000 Saudi Riyal (approximately 1.25 billion JPY)
5) Shareholder: Eisai Europe Ltd.
6) Date of Establishment: April 2, 2024
About the Pharmaceutical Market in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia has a population of about 35 million and a GDP per capita of 118,216 Saudi riyals (approx. 31,445 USD). Saudi Arabia also has the largest pharmaceutical market in the Middle East, reaching 11,342 million USD in 2023 with an average growth rate of 7% in local currency terms from 2019 to 2023.(1)
The healthcare market in Saudi Arabia consists of two major segments, the public sector and private sector.The public sector is fully funded by the government, and provides all public sector employees and their families, as well as Saudi Arabia citizens without health insurance, with access to medical care for free at government facilities.2 In the private sector, companies are required to offer health insurance for their employeesand expenses are dependent on the insurance policy.(2)
In 2016, Saudi Arabia announced Vision 2030, an economic reform concept toward 2030 with the aim to shift Saudi Arabia to an economy that doesn’t rely on oil. In response to Vision 2030, the Ministry of Health of Saudi Arabia aims to build a more effective and comprehensive medical system, expanding health services and medical facilities and digitalization.
(1) Created based on IQVIA World Review Analyst 2024, Data Period 2019-2023 (Copyright ©2024 IQVIA.). Reprinted with permission.
(2) Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Medical and International Expansion Country Report: Saudi Arabia https://tinyurl.com/rwn8883c
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