Current status and vision of local pharmaceutical industries in Saudi Arabia: The focus on nanomedicines.

Background: Pharmaceutical nanomedicine products are expected to impact the global pharmaceutical market and healthcare system significantly. Since 2000, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and European Medicines Agency (EMA) have approved over 80 nanomedicine products for marketing; an additional double that number is currently being tested in clinical trials. The nanomedicine market is expected to reach USD 350.8 billion by 2025 from USD 138.8 billion in 2016. This demonstrates the importance of nanotechnology to the delivery of pharmaceuticals. The main benefits of employing nanotechnology to distribute therapeutic agents include reducing the undesired toxicity from non-specific distribution and increasing patient adherence, which can indirectly minimize the burden on the country's healthcare system. Such products are expected to gain a significant economic impact on Saudi Arabia's pharmaceutical drugs market once they get developed locally. Method: A descriptive and cross-sectional study, including a web-based questionnaire and a complete categorization of pharmaceutical products formed by the national industries in Saudi Arabia, was utilized to investigate the current and future direction of pharmaceutical manufacturing exploiting nanotechnology in the Kingdom. Results: The survey showed an apparent lack of willingness within the national pharmaceutical industries, as the majority (≈ 86%) of the leading Saudi companies cannot enable nanotechnology-based medicines in their manufacturing. However, more than 93% of the national pharmaceutical industries, upon the basis of the responses, agreed that the development of pharmaceutical products with nanotechnology is an important step toward solving various complications associated with conventional forms of the available medicine. Conclusion: National pharmaceutical industries in Saudi Arabia will need to get closer to manufacturing nanomedicines by partnering with international pioneer companies. In addition, empowering the local research and development (R&D) centers in nano delivery systems could facilitate translating their R&D outcomes into novel advanced and commercialized products. This could imitate the direction of the global pharmaceutical market and share its revenue which will positively reflect on the Kingdom's economy.

Antimicrobial Resistance Awareness, Antibiotics Prescription Errors and Dispensing Patterns by Community Pharmacists in Saudi Arabia.

BACKGROUND: Antibiotic overuse and misuse have greatly facilitated the development of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is one of the countries that took a strategic approach, beginning with the prohibition of over-the-counter antibiotic dispensing, followed by the implementation of antimicrobial stewardship programs and various educational and awareness governmental activities and plans. However, the status of antibiotic prescriptions and dispensing in Saudi community pharmacies is still unclear. As a result, this study investigates community pharmacists' antibiotic dispensing practices and their knowledge of their role in fighting AMR, in addition to the status of antibiotic prescribing errors by physicians. METHOD: This is an online-based survey study of 671 participants distributed among community pharmacists of large pharmacy chains throughout the Saudi Arabia. RESULT: A number of 671 community pharmacists were participated in total, with a response rate of 96.57% (648 responses). The majority of community pharmacists (67%) had a long experience (>5 years) in this field. An antibiotic prescribing error was prevalent, with a mean of 3.32 per month in each pharmacy. Dentists (36.7%) and general practitioners (28.7%) were the most prescribers associated with antibiotic prescription errors. Most community pharmacists had a generally good practice of dispensing antibiotics, accounting for 71.5% of daily antibiotic dispensing. However, more than one-third of those pharmacists (35.2%) agreed on dispensing topical antibiotics without a prescription, based on their evaluation of the case presented in the pharmacy, as the majority of community pharmacists demonstrated a significant understanding of AMR. CONCLUSION: The current study demonstrated that there is a good antibiotic dispensing practice in the community pharmacies in Saudi Arabia, in addition to a substantial understanding of the community pharmacist's vital role in fighting AMR. This study could inform decision-makers on antibiotic usage in Saudi community pharmacies to improve the current inappropriate antibiotic use and dispensing situation and, thus, control AMR spread in Saudi Arabia.

A guide to oral vaccination: Highlighting electrospraying as a promising manufacturing technique toward a successful oral vaccine development.

Most vaccines approved by regulatory bodies are administered via intramuscular or subcutaneous injections and have shortcomings, such as the risk of needle-associated blood infections, pain and swelling at the injection site. Orally administered vaccines are of interest, as they elicit both systemic and mucosal immunities, in which mucosal immunity would neutralize the mucosa invading pathogen before the onset of an infection. Hence, oral vaccination can eliminate the injection associated adverse effects and enhance the person's compliance. Conventional approaches to manufacturing oral vaccines, such as coacervation, spray drying, and membrane emulsification, tend to alter the structural proteins in vaccines that result from high temperature, organic and toxic solvents during production. Electrohydrodynamic processes, specifically electrospraying, could solve these challenges, as it also modulates antigen release and has a high loading efficiency. This review will highlight the mucosal immunity and biological basis of the gastrointestinal immune system, different oral vaccine delivery approaches, and the application of electrospraying in vaccines development.

Localizing pharmaceuticals manufacturing and its impact on drug security in Saudi Arabia.

Local production of pharmaceuticals plays a vital role in maintaining resilience of national healthcare systems, especially when it comes to facilitating access to needed medicines and decreasing exposure to imports and international supply chains. Pharma is a research-intensive industry and the systemic lack of governance and support to R&D activities in this sector, among other host of related issues such as unsupportive regulatory regimes and human resources capacity limitations, is one of the major impediments to the diversifying of locally produced pharmaceuticals portfolio. In this review, an overview of the current pharmaceutical production system in Saudi Arabia, its major challenges, and proposed remedies to address them will be highlighted.