Julphar, one of the largest pharmaceutical makers in the Middle East and Africa, has rated as the leading pharmaceutical company in the UAE by IMS Health February 2018 panel, mirroring a solid double figure sales development versus 2017.

Julphar 2017 audited results were introduced adhering to a Board of Directors' meeting, which was chaired by His Highness Sheikh Faisal Bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Chairman of the Board of Julphar.

Jerome Carle, General Manager of Julphar, said, Firstly, I wish to express my appreciation to our shareholders, our 5000 employees throughout the world, our customers and our partners for their continued support.

" We are off to a strong start in 2018. We have gotten to the leading position in the UAE, our new administration group is currently fully aboard and we have just launched a number of new products in key therapeutical area such as cardiovascular.

Furthermore, our growth strategies get on track, specifically in Saudi Arabia and Africa, where we are making invasions in a number of key markets. We are accumulating a solid pipeline with the planned launch of 25 new products in the UAE this year alone and nearly 200 new item registrations expected in the region.

" Given the momentum we are seeing in our new products and recent launches, the running efficiency renovations we are driving, we are confident in our ability to deliver our 2018 outlook of double digit growth.

In 2017, Julphar opened up a manufacturing facility in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia adding to its overseas production bases in Ethiopia and Bangladesh. The SAR 300 million state-of- the-art plant has the capacity to create 1 billion tablets, 300 million capsules and 30 million containers of syrups and suspensions annually. Last month, Julphar Saudi Arabia was granted Current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) approval by the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA).