A research hub in Bahrain has been established to help more pharmaceutical manufacturers from around the world enter the Gulf market by contracting with companies to carry out clinical trials.
The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) Bahrain, a not-for-profit healthcare education and research institution, has set up the clinical trials unit.
Supported by RCSI Ireland and Bahrain’s Ministry of Health and National Health Regulatory Authority (NHRA), approval for clinical trials which can take months in Europe may be given in weeks, a statement said.
RCSI said it has recently completed two national clinical trials involving Covid patients, the first around the effectiveness of convalescent plasma from recovered patients and the second a comparative trial of the effectiveness of the drug Favipiravir against hydroxychloroquine.
A third trial in Bahrain worth around $1.7 million is currently underway, the statement added.
“There is a clear and growing opportunity for pharmaceutical companies to set up and trade in the Middle East region. But it’s not just about getting products into the market. You need a solid base to tap into the full potential the region has to offer,” said Professor Stephen Atkin, head of School of Postgraduate Studies and Research, RCSI Bahrain.
“We’ve found that it is much easier to access patients in Bahrain, despite its size, and the proactive approach to research by the NHRA is fostering a strong ecosystem that is encouraging more clinical researchers to work in Bahrain.”
He added: “It is also much faster to secure approvals in Bahrain due to the proactive nature of the NHRA. Approvals for trials in the kingdom can take around five to six weeks. The same study in Ireland might take up to nine months and may not be feasible given costs.”
The global market for pharma trials is valued at $1.2 trillion and the market in the Middle East and North Africa is valued at around $1.36 billion in 2020 and projected to rise to $1.95 billion by 2025. Yet only 2.5 percent of that is available in the GCC.
While much of the Middle Eastern clinical trials market is currently dominated by non-member GCC countries, Bahrain has the necessary infrastructure in place to be the research hub of the Gulf, according to RCSI.
Similarly, companies setting up trials in Bahrain will be able to more easily secure approvals by GCC regulators than those conducting trials in other regions, it added.
Ali Al Mudaifa, executive director – Investment Origination at Bahrain’s Economic Development Board, said: “Bahrain is focused on developing a regional base for international healthcare companies and a leading centre for modern medicine. Against the backdrop of a global pandemic, RCSI has demonstrated through multiple clinical trials that Bahrain can be an internationally recognised leader in the pharma space.”
While more than 80 percent of pharmaceutical products are imported from outside the region, the GCC offers a compelling case for the set-up of in-market pharma production facilities, he added.
In recent years, the number of private healthcare facilities in Bahrain has grown with 800 private firms now operating in the country’s healthcare space.
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