Alabbas Al-Ghamdi

Alabbas Al-Ghamdi has been the director of the pharmaceutical segment at the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) since March 2018. He gained a bachelor’s degree in pharmaceutical science from King Saud University (KSU) in Riyadh in 1998 and a master’s in business administration from the University of Leicester in England in 2009.

Al-Ghamdi began his career in the pharmaceutical sector in 1999, working as a medical representative at Riyadh Pharma. He joined Merck Sharp &

Dohme in 2000 as a professional sales representative, and after a string of promotions became the company’s key account manager in 2008.

In 2011, he joined Sanofi

Pasteur in Riyadh as a tenders and government affairs manager. Eighteen months later, he became national sales manager at the

Gulf Pharmaceutical Industry (Julphar), a position he held until 2014.

Al-Ghamdi then worked for BUPA Arabia for almost four years. He was the head national SME NBD from 2015 to 2018, when he joined SAGIA.

On Wednesday, SAGIA announced that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with GL Rapha Co., which will result in significant localization of GL Rapha operations in the Kingdom.

Al-Ghamdi said in a statement: “This agreement is a clear signal that international investors and business leaders recognize Saudi Arabia’s potential for health care investment. Working together with our partners throughout the Kingdom and abroad, we are also proactively fostering a greater localization of health care services and pharmaceutical manufacturing to meet growing demand.”