Sanofi says it has laid the foundation for an industrial facility in King Abdullah Economic City, almost three years after it first signed an agreement to establish a manufacturing facility in Saudi Arabia. The agreement will make Sanofi the first multinational pharmaceutical company to establish its industrial facility with a 100 percent foreign direct investment in the Kingdom.

The industrial facility is being hailed as a major achievement in helping to develop new jobs and establish new technology and science in support of patients’ needs in the region. The company’s expanded presence could also provide it an important strategic advantage in the region’s growing market.

The company is expected to build the facility on a 377,000 square-foot (35,000 square meter) plot of land and will initially host research focused on developing oral anti-diabetic and cardiovascular products. The initial focus likely has to do with the growing prevalence of diabetes and hypertension in Saudi Arabia over the last two decades.

In fact, M B Bdier, the director of cardiac clinics at King Abdulaziz Cardiac Centre, noted in an August 2011 presentation that cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in Arab countries, at nearly 45 percent.

Philipp Luscan, Sanofi’s senior vice president for industrial affairs, said that while the company is very proud of the pioneering project, it was actually “the encouraging investment environment and the solid economic situation in Saudi Arabia [that] had a conclusive effect on its decision to go ahead with this project.”