Gulfnews: Cashing in on demand for lifestyle drugs

Gulfnews: Cashing in on demand for lifestyle drugs

In previous generations the bald, the overweight, the impotent or even simply the cosmetically challenged, generally put up and shut up. Now there are a plethora of answers to many of life's age-old problems in the form of 'lifestyle drugs'.

While most of the lifestyle drugs we see on pharmacy shelves in the UAE are produced by big multinational pharmaceutical companies, local producers are working hard to claim their share of the market.


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These treatments for non-life-threatening ailments are available in pharmacies across the UAE and the region and although sales figures are hard to come by, many within the industry believe there is strong potential for future growth, particularly for local producers.

"The current trends indicate that there is potentially high demand for lifestyle drugs in the region," market researchers RNCOS told Gulf News. Dr Ali Saeed Hussain, director of the pharmaceuticals services department at the department of health, agreed. "The movement and purchase [of lifestyle drugs] is higher than before," said Dr Hussain.

An obvious choice for many pharmaceutical companies is weight-loss pills, and growing levels of obesity within the region are bolstering demand. RNCOS's Saudi Arabian healthcare market forecast to 2012 found that 68 per cent of males over the age of 15 are likely to be obese or overweight by 2015, and 63 per cent of women.

"The UAE is also facing high symptoms of obesity," added the analysts. "Increasing levels of obesity and growing health awareness among the region's population is particularly pushing up the demand for dietary supplements in the Middle East, especially in the Gulf nations. Major growth will be seen in sports, energy and weight-loss categories."

In the UAE the two biggest players in the weight-loss pills market are Xenical, produced by Swiss giants Roche, and Reductil, made by US-based Abbott Laboratories. Although Reductil holds a larger share of the market, both products are battling it out on pharmacy shelves for supremacy in an area where weight problems are severe.

"There is good trust with Xenical because it is a Roche product," claims Ali Habash, general line manager for Roche in the UAE.

Local pharmaceutical companies are also diving into the fray, in an attempt to gain some market share.

"We have a product that will be launched very soon," said Mohammad Abdul Wahab, product manager at Dubai-based company Global Pharma. "This is to reduce fat and carbohydrate absorption. This market is growing very fast."

The new treatment, called Lyner, is to be made available within a week.

Xeincal's advocates however claim there is no locally-produced drug that will threaten their market share yet. "There are no generics for Xenical," said Habash. "It's a brand."

He also pointed out that many of the smaller, locally or regionally produced products are herbal based, and are therefore looked upon less favourably by pharmacists due to the lack of research that has been done on them.