Greek Drugmaker Elpen Sets Up Middle East Base In The UAE

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times)

Greek pharmaceuticals manufacturer, Elpen, has announced the launch of its 1st MEA subsidiary in the United Arab Emirates. The move marks a major milestone in the company's international expansion strategy and strengthens its long-term commitment to improving healthcare across the region.

With its new offices in the UAE, Elpen's MEA subsidiary will serve as the company's regional strategic centre, enabling closer engagement with health authorities, clinicians, scientific communities, medical societies, and institutional partners across the region.

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The company has appointed Mohammad Allakany as General Manager for Middle East and Africa,

Excerpts from an interview:

What strategic factors made the UAE the chosen location for Elpen's Middle East & Africa headquarters?

The establishment of Elpen's Middle East & Africa headquarters in the UAE marks an important milestone in our international journey. It is our third headquarters globally, following Greece and Germany, which was established in 2012. The launch of the UAE office reflects both strategic maturity and long-term commitment to the region.

The UAE offers a robust healthcare ecosystem, regulatory clarity, and a forward looking vision that aligns well with Elpen's focus on quality and innovation. Its connectivity, access to talent, and strong governance make it an ideal platform for regional leadership. This decision builds on Elpen's more than 60 years of pharmaceutical heritage and our global presence serving patients in over 90 countries across five continents.

For a European company expanding into the Middle East and Africa, location matters. The UAE gives us the ability to be closer to decision-makers, partners, and healthcare systems, while operating in an environment that values high standards and long-term investment.

This decision builds on Elpen's more than 60 years of pharmaceutical heritage and our global presence serving patients in over 90 countries across five continents.

What role will the UAE headquarters play in accelerating access to high-quality medicines across the Middle East and Africa?

The UAE headquarters serves as Elpen's regional leadership and coordination hub for the Middle East and Africa. Its role is to align strategy, regulatory planning, market access, and scientific engagement across diverse healthcare systems in the region.

Working closely with our R&D ecosystem in Greece,, the headquarters helps translate innovation into accessible, high quality and relevant to local needs. This includes key therapeutic areas such as cardiometabolic, central nervous system, respiratory, oncology, and other high-impact disease areas.

By centralizing regional expertise, we can streamline execution, maintain consistent European quality standards, and collaborate more effectively with local stakeholders. Ultimately, this creates a more efficient and sustainable pathway to expand access to trusted medicines for patients across MEA markets.

And importantly, it allows us to move faster. Νot by compromising on standards, but by simplifying coordination and improving how we serve healthcare systems market by market.

With rising demand for trusted pharmaceuticals in the region, how does Elpen differentiate itself from other global players?

Elpen differentiates itself through a strong combination of scientific heritage, innovation, and long-term commitment. With more than 60 years of experience, we have built deep capabilities in research, manufacturing, and quality systems that meet the highest European standards.

At the same time, we continue to invest decisively in our industrial and R&D base in Greece. Under our commitment“We invest in the future. We invest in Greece,” Elpen is implementing a long-term investment program for 2020–2027 (€310m), strengthening a modern manufacturing and research ecosystem through new facilities and upgrades. This foundation supports consistent quality and supply reliability for MEA markets.

A key example of our innovation is the ElpenHALER® device, a patented inhalation system designed to improve drug delivery and adherence for asthma and COPD patients, reflecting our focus on value-added solutions rather than commoditized products. Across cardiometabolic, CNS, respiratory, oncology, and other therapy areas, we emphasize real-world clinical value and patient outcomes, supported by our presence in over 90 countries.

As a European pharmaceutical company expanding into the Middle East and Africa, we believe differentiation also comes from three long-term pillars: scientific consistency, empowered local teams, and generational responsibility. In respiratory care, we are also advancing inhaled therapies using next-generation green propellants with lower global warming potential (LGWP), aligning innovation with sustainability. Ultimately, if we serve patients honestly and grow with purpose, the business results will follow.

What are Elpen's priorities for the MEA region over the next three to five years in terms of partnerships and expansion?

Over the next three to five years, Elpen's priority in the MEA region is to build sustainable depth rather than rapid expansion. This includes strengthening partnerships with trusted local stakeholders and expanding selectively into markets where we can deliver clear clinical and measurable health-economic impact.

We are focusing on high-burden therapeutic areas that reflect regional needs including cardiometabolic disease, CNS disorders, respiratory care, oncology, and other high-impact segments. In parallel, we are investing in the fundamentals that enable long-term success: people, governance, compliance, and regional capabilities that ensure resilience and consistency across diverse markets.

By combining our global experience with strong local partnerships, we aim to build a balanced growth model that supports healthcare systems while delivering consistent, high quality medicines across the region.

For us, partnership is not transactional. It's about building shared capabilities and long-term outcomes so that growth and healthcare impact progress together.

How does this move support Elpen's goal of doubling its international business by 2028?

The establishment of the UAE headquarters is a critical enabler of Elpen's international growth strategy. It strengthens regional leadership, improves proximity to markets, and enhances alignment between global innovation and local execution.

As the third headquarters after Greece and Germany, the UAE office allows Elpen to move beyond an export-driven model toward a more embedded, regionally driven approach. This supports faster decision-making, stronger partnerships, and better responsiveness to healthcare needs.

Combined with our R&D foundation at Athens LifeTech Park and our global footprint across five continents, this structure creates a scalable platform for sustainable growth. These elements are central to achieving Elpen's ambition to significantly expand its international business by 2028.

What opportunities do you see for collaboration with local manufacturers, research institutions, and healthcare providers in the UAE?

The UAE offers a highly collaborative healthcare environment, with strong opportunities across manufacturing, research, and clinical engagement. We see potential partnerships with local manufacturers to strengthen supply resilience, while also exploring partnerships that support efficiency, quality, and long-term sustainability.

On the scientific side, collaboration with academic and research institutions is increasingly important, particularly to generate real-world evidence, deepen clinical understanding, and ensure that innovation is aligned with how patients are treated in practice.

Engagement with healthcare providers is equally critical, especially in therapy areas such as respiratory care, cardiometabolic diseases, CNS, and oncology, where patient outcomes depend on both innovation and practical application. These collaborations complement Elpen's innovation ecosystem, allowing global expertise to be enriched by local insight.

For Elpen, collaboration is about co-creating solutions that are clinically meaningful, economically sustainable, and aligned with national healthcare priorities, ultimately supporting better patient care across the region.

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