Dubai's Aster eyes Saudi Arabia's pharmacy sector

Dubai's Aster DM Healthcare is planning to venture into Saudi Arabia's pharmacy sector, Gulf News reported, citing company chairman Dr Azad Moopen.

Healthcare is one of the focus areas of Vision 2030 and the National Transformation Plan. Last month, the Kingdom opened the medical clinics sector to foreign ownership, which was previously open only for hospitals.

“It took us five years to start a hospital there. It’s not easy,” Moopen said. He, however, expects the retail pharmacies sector to open up soon.

Aster has built up a model of locating clinics and pharmacies close to each other, a model that is being adopted in the US, with chains such as Walgreens and CVS opening primary care clinics near their retail pharmacies.

“We hope that this model will be able to replicate in countries where it is allowed, and this can significantly improve the effectiveness of the pharmacy sector,” he added.