TBY talks to Joe W. Henein, President & CEO of NewBridge Pharmaceuticals, on the attractivenss of the MENA region to pharmaceuticals firms and the trends driving growth in the UAE

 

The Middle East is indeed attracting lots of attention in the pharma world, either from companies seeking access to this region or investors who are increasingly interested in the region and in healthcare. Pharmaceutical companies follow growth and wider access for their innovative therapeutics and, right now, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) reguib us ibe if tge fastest growing in the world. The region offers many of the key fundamentals that are vital for our industry, First, there is a large population and one that is growing at a ghigh rate compared to much of the rest of the world. Second, there is a high percentage of young people, meaning that years down thel ine they will get older and require medical attention. Lifestyle diseases are on an alarming increase in the region, including obesity leading to diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, as well as cancer, which comes earlier in age in some cases than in the Western World, especially breast cancer. Third, there is a high commitment by governments to healthcare – lots of hospitals and clinics are being built, bed capacity is being increased, urbanization is increasing along with the extension of healthcare services, and the drive to health insurance is increasing along with the extension of healthcare services, and the drive to health insurance is increasing, including increased coverage and access to medicine where possible. In that regard, there is a lot of room for further improvement, coverage, support, and growth. Healthcare is central to regional governments’ focus to provide for citizens, hence the attention on multi­ ple fronts from governments and companies alike. On the other  hand’ however,  there has been some caution looming in the region since the beginning of the year given the unfolding story of sliding oil prices and  its impact on budgets here in the region, as well as the potential resulting pressure on  working capital needs for companies operating in MENA.

 

It will affect the sector positively. If you compare and contrast pharmaceutical con· sumption in Europe to the Middle East, people in Europe pay some contribution  from their income toward their healthcare expenses through taxation systems in their country, and in rum they are subsidized for their healthcare and medicinal needs, so it is a fully reimbursed market model. In the Middle East there is a mosaic of health care access across the region, so you have countries that are fully or almost fully reimbursed, such as Turkey, Algeria, and Tunisia on one end of the spectrum,  to countries  that are mostly out of pocket, like Egypt, for example, on  the other end of that spectrum, and  the  rest  is somewhere in between. In the GCC, for example, governments and private insurers combined cover the majority of both the local and expatriate  population, which is a good position to be in. When countries like the UAE and Saudi Arabia put private insurance on the map and it becomes mandatory, it basically completes  the picture and achieves almost full coverage for all inhabitants, so they become like Turkey or  the EU from  a  coverage standpoint.   The   difference is that in fully reimbursed model countries. the payer is only one entity, i.e. the government and through their taxation systems. However, and as a result of this insurance mandate in the GCC, you end up with a system that provides the same purpose through different payers.

 

We  represent  many  multinational companies  wanting to operate in the Middle East and  have their brands available for MENA  patients but want to do it through partnership as opposed to operating on their own. We have teams in the EU and US constantly looking for  innovation  and disruptive technologies that we think will address an unmet medical need or provide an improvement on existing therapies, or  indeed provide better quality o flife to patients in the region. For now we represent some  products  from global companies like UCB, Eisai, Kyowa Kirin, Genomic Health, and more. We operate as a one-stop solution to the region and as a licensing company for new pharmaceutical compounds that are not present here in MENA, thus acting as a bridge to bring this innovatlon from west to east, and hence the name NewBridge.