The Arabic Pharmaceutical Market: SFDA, UAE MOH, and Gulf Drug Registration
The Arabic-speaking pharmaceutical market is one of the fastest-growing globally, driven by expanding healthcare systems, rising populations, and government investment in medical infrastructure across the Gulf and broader MENA region. Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 has identified healthcare as a strategic priority, whilst the UAE positions itself as a regional medical hub. For pharmaceutical companies seeking market entry, Arabic regulatory documentation is the gateway — and accuracy in Arabic translation directly determines whether products achieve timely approval or face costly delays.
Saudi Arabia's SFDA (Saudi Food and Drug Authority) requires comprehensive Arabic documentation for drug registration, including Arabic patient information leaflets (PILs), Arabic Summary of Product Characteristics (SmPC), Arabic labelling, and Arabic packaging text. The UAE Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) have separate registration pathways with their own Arabic documentation requirements. Our translators understand the specific Arabic terminology, formatting conventions, and regulatory expectations of each Gulf authority.
Key Arabic pharmaceutical documentation we translate includes:
- Arabic Patient Information Leaflets (PILs) — Arabic-language leaflets that must communicate dosage, contraindications, side effects, and storage instructions clearly to Arabic-speaking patients. PILs require both scientific accuracy and readability for non-specialist audiences
- Arabic SmPC (Summary of Product Characteristics) — Detailed Arabic product information for healthcare professionals, including pharmacological properties, clinical particulars, and pharmaceutical data translated with precise medical Arabic terminology
- SFDA registration dossiers — Arabic sections of Common Technical Document (CTD) submissions for Saudi drug registration, including Module 1 regional administrative information and Arabic labelling text
- Arabic pharmaceutical labelling — Primary and secondary packaging text, dosage instructions, warning statements, and batch information translated into Arabic with RTL formatting for GCC market distribution
