THE MIDDLE EAST’S

18. Ismail Shehada

Company: Saudi Chemical Company Holding
Designation: CEO - Pharma Sector
Country: Saudi Arabia
Sector: Pharmaceuticals

Shehada assumed his current role in June 2020. He oversees 600 people across three pharma companies: Saudi International Trading Company, AJA Pharma, and Chemical Commercial Investment Company Ltd. As of September 2022, the holding company had $1.3 billion in assets and generated $699 million in sales during the first nine months of 2022. The company has signed CMO deals with GSK, Abbott, Servier, Lundbeck, and Aspen, among others. Shehada has 23 years of experience in the sector. He was previously country president of the GCC cluster at AstraZeneca and vice chairman of the Research-Based Pharmaceutical Companies Group.