Avanzcare is Al Sawari Holding's company in the medical sector, serving the healthcare sector through pharmaceutical distribution, manufacturing and healthcare centres.
The newly branded Avanzcare has made decisive steps towards a more international outlook, securing major agreements in the expanding MENA market. The rebranding was intended to reflect the company's increasingly international outlook. .
Mohamed Shafiek, Managing Director of Al Sawari Holding, said:
"Al Sawari's objective is for Avanzcare to become recognized as the benchmark for providing advanced healthcare solutions across the region and we are confident we are well on the way to achieving this."
The company acts as a gateway for international companies looking to enter the MENA healthcare market.
“We are delighted to have recently signed our first long-term agreements with international partners, Protein Sciences and Mindray,” said Mr John Youssef, General Manager of Avanzcare.In 2016, Avanzcare signed an agreement in with US firm Protein Sciences Corporation, designating Avanzcare as the exclusive distributor of Flublok and Panblok influenza vaccines.
Under the terms of the agreement, Avanzcare will pursue registration of Flublok in all licensed countries and will initially purchase Flublok from Protein Sciences for distribution in the region.
The MENA flu vaccine market is valued at $160m, representing about 4% of the total global market. Shafiek added:
"A key part of our strategy is to become the partner of choice for advanced healthcare solutions in the region.”
In October, Avanzcare signed an agreement with China-headquartered Mindray, a global provider of medical devices and solutions. Avanzcare will be the sole distributor of Mindray's life support products in Qatar. These will include anaesthesia, defibrillator, infusion pump, syringe pump, monitor, ventilator and electrocardiogram products.
Avanzcare also became ISO 9001:2015 compliant last year and successfully completed its TRACE certification.
MENA in the market
The MENA region currently represents around 6% of the world's population. Its healthcare market represents 2-3% of the global pharmaceutical market.
The $35bn MENA healthcare market is expected to grow by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 6-9% between 2014 and 2019.
Qatar's pharmaceutical market alone has seen CAGR of 12.6% over the past decade, reaching $709m in 2015.
