Sanofi has signed a 'memorandum of understanding' with two Saudi Arabian drugmakers, Lifera and Arabio, which aims to strengthen local manufacturing of vaccines in Saudi Arabia.
Under the terms of the deal, the trio will explore opportunities for collaboration to help advance Saudi Arabia's vaccines localization strategy through a range of proposed initiatives.
The deal will leverage Arabio's local and regional distribution strength in vaccines and other key pharmaceutical products. Lifera will be a contract manufacturer to Sanofi, through state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities and capabilities.
Lifera — which is wholly owned by the government's Public Investment Fund — is a new company dedicated to advancing Saudi Arabia's biopharma sector and building national health resilience. The company was formed as part of Saudi Arabia's 'Vision 2030,' a strategic framework to reduce the country's dependence on oil by diversifying its economy and developing sectors such as health, education, infrastructure, recreation and tourism.
