Kimadia is a government agency in Iraq that regulates the import and distribution of pharmaceuticals and medical equipment. It was established in 1964 but grew in the 1990s after the Oil-for-Food program. Until 2004, Kimadia preferred to work with regional companies for political reasons, shifting the market to overpriced generics from Jordan, Egypt, and Syria. Today, Kimadia has an even stronger position and a budget of over $1.5 billion for 2012 to increase registered drugs and medical devices while also increasing local production.

1. KIMADIA
Kimadia is a very popular word among executives within the pharma industry in
Iraq or those who developed interest in this untapped market. Kimadia is a
government agency regulating the import and distribution of pharmaceuticals and
medical equipments in Iraq. It operates under the Federal MOH in Iraq.
Kimadia was established in 1964, but it has grown to its present weight in the
industry after the first gulf war and specifically in 1995 when the Oil-for-Food
Program (OFF), established by the United Nations (under UN Security Council
Resolution 986) with the stated intent to allow Iraq to sell oil on the world market
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2. in exchange for food, medicine, and other humanitarian needs for ordinary Iraqi
citizens without allowing Iraq to boost its military capabilities.
Until 2004, Kimadia management had a preference to work with regional
companies for political reasons. This non-technical decision impacted the
healthcare and pharma market in the country and shifted the utilization from
brand oriented customers to overpriced Jordanian, Egyptian and Syrian generics
as the legal and regulations of multinational companies forced them to leave this
politically controlled market.
Today, Kimadia has even a stronger position and announced its budget for 2012
as 1.5 Billion USD. Registered drug items shall be increased massively from 850
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3. to 1250 with a budget of over 600 million USD, while the plan includes 9250
medical devices and products.
The local production, 6% in 2011, is an integrated part of Kimadia’s plan with a
vision to increase production to 10% in 2012. The local manufacturer has a
legacy in competing with regional products at their production countries and with
this ambitious plan; SAMARA might be back to its old position.
The budget also includes a 200 million USD for new operation theaters, 80
millions USD for Vaccinations and a significant portion for research.
In 2009, Kimadia suffered from a fire due to unclear reason at three of its floors in
Baghdad. A dramatic incident resulted in a lost for all original contracts and
tenders.
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4. The power to determine what pharmaceutical products are bought and at what
price have shifted dramatically in the past decade from physicians to payers in
the developed world, and the region is catching up very fast. Kimadia, among
many other regulators and agencies in the Middle East, plays a role in the payer-
pharmaceutical relationship.
Nobody believes pharma can approach the next ten years using the methods of
the last ten. Change is imperative, and a new approach to institutional customers
needs to be part of that change. Today’s unit price–based relationships are not
only adversarial, but less and less able to produce useful results for either side.
But in trying to go beyond them, the industry has continually been frustrated by
regulatory constraints.
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5. The global market has plenty of great ideas on how to partner with payers to
create value. The trick is to get any of them through legal and then how to
customize them to match the local requirements.
We at the Institute of HealthCare Research at Cambridge Academy for Higher
Education in the United Kingdom believes that the challenge is to develop tailor
made strategies that work in today’s market and creates a pathway for the Middle
East. The Institute offers a unique combination of more than 2,000 researchers
from the Middle East enrolled into graduate programs offered by the Academy,
and led by the top ranked local experts in healthcare & pharma industry and
backed by academic support of the Academy’s professor and faculty in the UK
and the affiliated in the region.
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6. For the Institute of HealthCare Research
Cambridge Academy for Higher Education
Emirates Towers, level 41
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
P.O Box 31303
Info@cahe.co.uk
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