LONDON: Hikma Pharmaceuticals has won exclusive rights to distribute and market its third biosimilar drug — a copy of Roche’s blood cancer treatment Rituxanin — in the Middle East and North African markets, it said on Tuesday.
The Jordan-based drugmaker agreed on the licensing deal with Celltrion to market the South Korea-based biopharmaceutical firm's Truxima, a copy of Roche's blockbuster blood cancer medicine, also known as MabThera.
Truxima, the first biosimilar cancer drug to hit the European market in February, is used to treat patients with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, rheumatoid arthritis and microscopic polyangiitis.
Hikma, which makes and markets branded and non-branded generic and injectable drugs in more than 50 countries including Britain, has been hit by higher pricing pressures in the generic industry and has lowered revenue forecasts three times this year.
European drugmakers had been faced with increasing competition from cut-price copies of complex biotech drugs.
The complex nature of biological medicines, which are made inside living cells, means copies can never be exactly the same as the original.
But a growing number of such drugs have now been approved in Europe as similar enough to do the job.
Truxima has been approved in all of Rituxan/MabThera's indications and governments around Europe are keen to see it used widely to curb rising drug bills.
Hikma is currently also in a dispute with the Food and Drug Administration over plans to launch a generic copy of GlaxoSmithKline’s popular lung drug Advair in the US.
London-listed shares of the company rose 1.9 percent.
Hikma wins right to market Roche drug copy in Middle East
Hikma wins right to market Roche drug copy in Middle East
Manufacturing and trade drive 5% rise in Saudi operating revenue
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Operating Revenue Index rose 5 percent year on year in November, supported by growth in manufacturing, trade and construction, official data showed.
In its latest report, the General Authority for Statistics noted that the rise was “supported by an increase in manufacturing activities by 6.5 percent,” while wholesale and retail trade, including the repair of motor vehicles, increased by 9.5 percent.
Construction activity expanded 7.4 percent, while financial activities grew 14.4 percent and insurance activities rose 8.6 percent.
The data underline the Kingdom’s broader economic diversification drive under Vision 2030, with non-oil activities such as manufacturing, construction, finance and trade continuing to expand and contribute a larger share to overall economic activity.
On a monthly basis, the index fell 1.2 percent from October, according to the preliminary figures released by GASTAT, pointing to uneven momentum across sectors at the end of the year.
The fall was attributed to weaker performance in some sectors, including a 3.8 percent decrease in mining and quarrying activities and a 25.8 percent drop in electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply activities.
In the labor market, the Employees Compensation Index recorded strong annual growth, rising 13.6 percent compared to November 2024. The increase was supported by an 18.8 percent rise in manufacturing activities and a 10.5 percent increase in wholesale and retail trade activities.
On a monthly basis, employee compensation edged up 0.1 percent, reflecting modest gains across several sectors.
Indicators linked to construction activity also strengthened. The number of issued building permits increased 28.4 percent year on year in November 2025, reaching 8,034, compared to 6,258 in the same month a year earlier.
The surge in building permits indicates robust investment in physical infrastructure, a key pillar of Saudi Vision 2030, while rising wages support its aim of improving citizen prosperity.
The report stated this was “a result of the increase in the number of issued building permits during November.” Furthermore, permits showed strong momentum from the previous month, increasing by 7.7 percent compared to October 2025.
