Germany’s Stada to produce essential medicines in Saudi Arabia

• Facility planned for Sudair City
• Medicines for life-threatening diseases
• Stada will triple Saudi workforce

German healthcare company Stada will invest more than €85 million ($101 million) to establish a manufacturing facility in Saudi Arabia, boosting the kingdom’s local pharmaceutical production.

The plant will produce essential medicines for conditions such as heart disease and diabetes for Saudi Arabia and other Mena countries, the company said in a statement.

The facility, located in Sudair City for Industry and Businesses, 150km northwest of Riyadh, will have an annual production capacity of more than 300 million units, equivalent to 10-13 million packs, by 2030. 

The industrial centre, operated by state-backed Modon, has 350 facilities operating or under construction. Modon oversees 39 existing and under-development industrial cities across the kingdom.

In its first five years, the Stada facility is due to supply around 500 million units of cardiovascular medicines, 175 million doses of anticoagulants and 250 million treatments for type 2 diabetes. It will also make medicines for central nervous system treatments regarding conditions such as epilepsy and schizophrenia.

Stada will create around 400 jobs, more than tripling its workforce in Saudi Arabia. 

The project is estimated to contribute SAR500 million ($133 million) to Saudi Arabia’s gross domestic product.  

Stada’s network comprises 16 manufacturing sites across 11 European and Asian countries. It offers products in over 100 countries and achieved group sales of €4.1 billion in 2024. 

As part of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 diversification programme, the government aims to support businesses that produce locally manufactured goods. It has introduced various incentives to help large and small Saudi enterprises grow and reduce the country’s reliance on imports. 

• Saudi VC fund to localise defence manufacturing
• Made in Saudi: the rise of local manufacturing
• Saudi EV maker Ceer signs 16 deals to support localisation

Earlier this month, the Public Investment Fund warned that the country was racing through its construction boom without locking in a domestic manufacturing base.

It is “very clear that the opportunity is here. What we need today in the localisation space is speed”, Leyla Abdimomunova, PIF’s head of real estate and construction in its national development division, told the Private Sector Forum in Riyadh.

Saudi Arabia appointed a new investment minister this month as it targets SAR388 billion FDI annually by 2030, which would more than triple the record inflows of SAR119 billion in 2024.