UK pharmaceuticals group GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) will begin production at a new factory in the UAE in 2020, according to the company’s general manager for the Gulf region.
In an interview with Gulf News, GSK regional general manager Sally Storey said that the company is “looking at options” for its UAE facility.
“It may be that we don’t build something, we may look [to go] through a partnership,” the newspaper quoted her as saying. “We are relatively advanced in that right now. We’re looking at about six products initially.”
In the interview, Story declined to specify which products would be manufactured, nor the value of the investment in the UAE facility.
“We’re looking to get the first manufactured product out on the ground in about a year-and-a-half’s time. That one is definitely progressing,” she said.
Currently, GSK produces approximately 80 percent of its products in the Gulf in Saudi Arabia.
According to GSK’s 2017 financial results, pharmaceuticals accounted for £17.3 billion (AED 82.5 billion) of its total turnover of £30.2 billion (AED 143.77 billion).
