Hikma Opens Oncology API Manufacturing Plant

Multinational company, Hikma Pharma, opened the doors to a new manufacturing plant in Jordan that specializes in active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) for oncology medicines. This move is expected to create thousands of jobs and strengthen Jordan’s growing foothold in a global pharmaceutical market.

Hikma, which started as a local manufacturer in Jordan 36 years ago, has seen exponential growth in recent years. Mazen Darwazah, CEO and president of Mena and Emerging Markets at Hikma reports, “Today, it’s a Jordanian company marketing its products worldwide, owning 27 manufacturing facilities in 11 countries, contributing to over 7 percent of the national exports and holding a 12 percent share in the Jordanian pharmaceutical market.”

The new manufacturing plant, the first of its kind in the MENA region, was inaugurated by King Abdullah II, who made a speech praising the company for its contributions to the Jordanian economy and job growth.

A recent report, published in 2010 as collaboration between scholars from the University of Jordan and Jordan’s Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation, discussed the disintegration of the middle class and rising rates of poverty and unemployment in Jordan. The report found that a large portion of Jordan’s middle class were seeking employment in other countries, particularly Gulf countries.

In King Abdullah II’s speech, he stressed the importance of nurturing the domestic job market and keeping the middle class at home.

This investment by Hikma is only one of a slew of recent acquisitions, which include Thymoorgan in Germany and a joint venture with Haosun in China.

Hikma recently completed a deal that acquired Ben Venue Laboratories, a subsidiary of Boehringer Ingelheim, which produces generic sterile injectables in Bedford, Ohio. Ben Venue, which had previously laid off a third of its 1,100 employees in December, risked shutting its doors forever before Hikma offered to buy its facilities.

Darwazah commented that the acquisition would “significantly enhance [Hikma’s] R&D capabilities and enable us to expand future capacity.”