Supplying Medicines and Supplements to Kuwait

Kuwait is a well-funded Gulf market where everything runs through a licensed local agent. The Ministry of Health registers the manufacturing company first and then each product, using the Gulf Health Council dossier format.

Rules are being modernised: reforms announced in December 2025 set out several registration pathways with defined timelines. Until the details are published, plan for the established route and check with your agent.

Kuwait at a glance

How to supply medicines to Kuwait

1. Appoint a licensed agent. Choose a Kuwaiti agent licensed by the Commerce and Health ministries, give it a legalised letter naming it your sole or exclusive agent, and register the agency agreement.
2. Register the company, then the product. A CTD dossier in the Gulf Health Council format, with a CoPP and the plant's GMP evidence.
3. Consider Gulf-wide registration. The Gulf Health Council can register the manufacturing company and the product centrally for all six GCC states. Each country then issues its own certificate and sets the price, and GHC registration is also the entry ticket to the Gulf joint procurement tenders.
4. Supply. Your agent imports and distributes to private pharmacies and hospitals. For biologicals and biosimilars, have the FDA or EMA approval ready.

For a medicine not registered in Kuwait, ask your agent whether a special import is possible for your case. See named-patient and special import and government tender supply.

Supplements

Supplements are classed as health products in Kuwait and must be registered with the Ministry of Health before sale, under Minister of Health Resolution No. 532 of 2002. We help brands get supplements made under their own label by GMP-certified contract manufacturers: see nutraceutical private label.

What people in Kuwait search for

Semrush data from October 2026 shows that people in Kuwait search most for vitamin D (about 3,600 searches a month in English and the same again in Arabic, “فيتامين د”), vitamin C (2,900), protein (“بروتين”, 2,400), collagen, vitamin B12 and gummies (1,900 each).

Kuwaitis search in both languages. Besides the English terms, Arabic “بروتين” (protein), “فيتامين د” (vitamin D) and “كولاجين” (collagen) each get between 1,000 and 10,000 searches a month, and “صيدلية” (pharmacy) between 10,000 and 100,000 (Google Keyword Planner, October 2026). “protein powder kuwait” alone gets about 1,300 a month (Semrush).

How importers and agents in Kuwait search

“pharmaceutical companies in kuwait” gets between 100 and 1,000 searches a month (Google Keyword Planner). Arabic trade phrases such as “شركات الادوية في الكويت” (pharmaceutical companies in Kuwait) and “مذخر ادوية” (pharmaceutical wholesaler) register only weakly, so most agents are found through contacts rather than search.

Originator brands searched by name include Roxonin (loxoprofen), Zestril (lisinopril), Duspatalin (mebeverine), Dexilant (dexlansoprazole), Zyrtec (cetirizine) and Daflon (diosmin and hesperidin). Brand names are trademarks of their owners and are used only to identify the medicine.

Supplements we can help you make

Often searched medicines include lisinopril, mebeverine and dexlansoprazole. Some examples we list:

Documents to ask your supplier for

• A Certificate of a Pharmaceutical Product (CoPP) in WHO format.
• The plant's GMP evidence, such as a WHO-GMP, EU-GMP or PIC/S certificate, plus any inspection by your regulator.
• The registration dossier (CTD or ACTD), with bioequivalence data for generics where required.
• Stability data for hot climates.
• A Certificate of Analysis for every batch.

Not sure a supplier is genuine? Read how to verify a pharmaceutical supplier. For the neighbouring markets, see our Middle East and North Africa import guide.

Frequently asked questions