Under the 10-year contract, LIFEPharma will manufacture nine products in its Dubai facility which will then be exported for commercialization in Canada. LIFEPharma will produce as many as 120 million tablets each year, including medications to treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, hepatitis B infection, partial seizures, and multi-resistant bacterial infections. These therapeutics have never been manufactured in the UAE or the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) at these volumes, and this contract will see LIFEPharma become the first UAE company to export generics to the North American market.

This agreement demonstrates LIFEPharma’s ability to deliver complex products that meet the quality standards of one of the most rigorous regulatory pharmaceutical markets globally. 

‘The partnership is an important milestone not only for LIFEPharma and VPS Healthcare, but also for the UAE’, said Dr Shamsheer Vayalil, Chairman and managing Director of VPS Healthcare. He added, ‘This project represents an important milestone in the strategy to make the UAE a global hub for knowledge-based, sustainable and innovative industries’.

Jeff Watson, President and CEO of Apotex said, ‘The GCC region continues to be a significant growth opportunity and focus for Apotex. The partnership with LIFEPharma represents an important step in achieving our growth objectives’.

LIFEPharma and Apotex are considering manufacturing further products for export to the Middle East that will leverage LIFEPharma’s access in the UAE and GCC markets to introduce new products. LIFEPharma began operations in Dubai’s Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafza) in 2014. Its manufacturing facility has a capacity of one billion tablets, 300 million capsules and 30 million liquids.

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