Emirates Drug Establishment Signs Viatris Pact as ADCAN Pharma Agrees to Make Its Drugs

The signing came with a more concrete agreement. Viatris and Abu Dhabi drugmaker ADCAN Pharma signed a cooperation deal to make selected products from Viatris' portfolio in the UAE. That gives the regulator's pact a production partner. It also adds a large international generics and branded drug maker to the companies that have agreed to produce medicines inside the country.

For the UAE, the deals serve two aims set out in the announcement: building an industrial base in life sciences, and what officials call pharmaceutical security, meaning a steady supply of medicines that does not depend wholly on imports. Supply disruption has become a practical worry this year, with shipping through the Strait of Hormuz repeatedly hit during the regional war.

Dr. Fatima Al Kaabi, Director-General of the EDE, signed the memorandum with Dr. Tamer Elsallab, who heads Viatris' GCC and Levant cluster. According to WAM, the agreement covers developing local manufacturing capabilities, making supply chains more resilient, training Emirati staff, exchanging knowledge and supporting healthcare innovation. No investment figures, product names or timelines were given.

Al Kaabi said the regulator wants a model that turns cooperation with global companies into "long-term industrial and knowledge-based projects within the UAE." She said the EDE plans to extend that approach to attract high-value investment and to set up joint projects with national manufacturers. She also said the country's regulatory framework, logistics infrastructure, research capacity and location allow international firms to build a long-term presence there and use it to reach regional markets.

Al Kaabi also witnessed the ADCAN agreement, which Elsallab signed for Viatris and ADCAN Pharma Chief Executive Dr. Fokion Sinis signed for the Abu Dhabi company. Dr. Ayman Mokhtar, Viatris' regional president for the Middle East, North Africa and Eurasia, and ADCAN Pharma chairman Hamdan Mohammed Al Dahmani attended. WAM said the deal is meant to support knowledge and technology transfer and expand local production, but it did not say which Viatris medicines are involved or when production would start.

ADCAN has been signing contract manufacturing and licensing deals with foreign drugmakers at a steady pace. Earlier this year it agreed with Italy's Menarini to make selected Menarini products in the UAE and handle their batch release there. In September it struck a deal with Pinnacle Life Science covering 12 oncology products, with technology transfer to follow, and WAM reported that ADCAN signed five licensing and local manufacturing agreements or binding term sheets at the CPHI Milan trade show in October.

The EDE was set up as the federal body responsible for regulating medicines and medical products. It said the latest partnerships are meant to bring the sector's regulatory, industrial and research work closer together, keep medical products continuously available and raise the industry's contribution to the economy. The next step to watch is when the first Viatris products made by ADCAN reach the UAE market, and which products they are.