Arcera currently offers 2,000 branded medicines and will have a combined workforce of more than 6,500 people across 90 countries.
Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADQ is consolidating some of its pharmaceutical assets to create one of the region’s largest life sciences firms, with operations across four continents.
Arcera includes ADQ's pharmaceutical assets in Switzerland, Turkey and Egypt, making it one of the largest ADQ companies in the MENA (Middle East & North Africa) region. Arcera employs more than 6,500 people in 90 countries.
Arcera aims to double its revenue over the next five years through acquisitions and partnerships, ADQ said in a statement. The firm currently offers 2,000 branded medicines, and has manufacturing and packaging sites in the United Arab Emirates, Switzerland, Ukraine, Estonia, South Africa, Turkey and Egypt.
With an estimated $200 billion in assets, ADQ is Abu Dhabi’s third-largest sovereign wealth fund behind the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Mubadala Investment Co.
Abu Dhabi has taken a forward-leaning stance on healthcare investments coming out of the Covid-19 pandemic and today aims to become a regional hub for life sciences — one of the hottest areas of investment that covers everything from genomics and pharmaceuticals to clinical trials and personalized medicine. ADQ, chaired by UAE National Security Advisor Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, is spearheading a number of those efforts under its mandate to be the lead investor driving the UAE’s economic transformation from petro-state to a knowledge-based economy.
As Bloomberg notes, neighboring Saudi Arabia has also made inroads into the pharma sector. The Public Investment Fund last year created a new entity to attract pharmaceutical and biotech companies to invest in drug manufacturing.
Source: Bloomberg
