The verdict in three sentences
For a North African pharmaceutical company, a corporate website (25,000 to 45,000 TND, about 8,000 to 15,000 USD) presents the company but serves neither doctors, pharmacists nor export distributors. A custom site with a product catalogue, an authenticated healthcare professional (HCP) area, online adverse event reporting and export pages costs 70,000 to 140,000 TND (about 23,000 to 46,000 USD), against 30,000 to 80,000 USD for a comparable build in Dubai or London. Trilingual FR/EN/Arabic and delivered in 10 to 16 weeks, it must be designed from day one around the national regulator's drug advertising rules, the DPM in Tunisia.
Corporate site or industry platform: what changes
The communications director of a generics manufacturer near Tunis manages three audiences with different rights: the general public, who must not receive promotion for prescription-only medicines, healthcare professionals, who can access summaries of product characteristics (SmPC) and scientific information, and export partners in Abidjan, Dakar or Douala, who look for registration dossiers and certificates. Labs in Dubai or London face the same split under their own regulators.
| Criterion | Corporate site | Custom pharma site |
|---|---|---|
| Budget 2026 (Tunis) | 25,000 to 45,000 TND | 70,000 to 140,000 TND |
| Comparable budget in Dubai or London | 12,000 to 25,000 USD | 30,000 to 80,000 USD |
| Timeline | 6 to 8 weeks | 10 to 16 weeks |
| Product catalogue | Static list, often PDF | Database filterable by INN, therapeutic class, form, strength |
| HCP-only information | No, or open to all | Authenticated area with status verification |
| Pharmacovigilance | Email address in the footer | Structured, timestamped form, notified to the safety officer |
| Export pages | One generic page | One page per zone: WAEMU, CEMAC, Maghreb, Middle East |
| Languages | FR, sometimes EN | FR, EN and Arabic with right-to-left layout |
| Annual maintenance | 3,000 to 6,000 TND | 9,000 to 18,000 TND |
The main difference is segmentation: detailed product sheets, SmPCs and scientific materials sit behind authentication, while the public section stays institutional, which limits the risk of the content being treated as consumer advertising.
Modules and their cost
| Module | Content | Indicative budget 2026 | Watch point |
|---|---|---|---|
| Product catalogue | Sheets by INN, strength, pack, marketing authorization status per country | 12,000 to 25,000 TND | Separate public and restricted data |
| HCP area | Registration with professional licence number, manual or automatic validation | 15,000 to 30,000 TND | Access and validation logs |
| Online pharmacovigilance | Adverse event report, acknowledgment, export to the quality system | 8,000 to 16,000 TND | Traceability and processing time |
| Export pages and distributor portal | Certificates, registration dossiers, documents per country | 10,000 to 22,000 TND | Access rights per distributor |
| Arabic version | Translation, typography and right-to-left layout | 6,000 to 12,000 TND | Review by an Arabic-speaking pharmacist |
| Careers and CSR | Job openings, CSR report, GMP certifications | 4,000 to 8,000 TND | Regular updates |
| Security and personal data | Encryption, backups, compliance with Tunisia's 2004 data protection law | 5,000 to 10,000 TND | Registration of processing activities |
The pharmacovigilance module deserves particular attention: a report received through the site must reach the safety officer without delay, with a timestamp usable during an inspection. A simple contact form is not enough.
Three-year total cost and timeline
| Item | Corporate site | Custom site |
|---|---|---|
| Build | 35,000 TND | 105,000 TND |
| Maintenance over 3 years | 13,500 TND | 40,500 TND |
| Secure hosting over 3 years | 4,500 TND | 12,000 TND |
| Total over 3 years | 53,000 TND (about 17,500 USD) | 157,500 TND (about 52,000 USD) |
| Scoping and regulatory review phase | 1 to 2 weeks | 3 to 4 weeks |
| Go-live | Week 6 to 8 | Week 10 to 16 |
The custom timeline is mostly extended by internal approvals: regulatory affairs, the qualified pharmacist and medical affairs must review product content. Build this circuit into the schedule from scoping.
Mini case study
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Ms Ben Salah, communications director of a 300-employee lab exporting to 9 West and Central African countries, finds that her export team sends about 140 dossiers and certificates per month by email, at 25 minutes each, i.e. 58 hours per month. With a self-service distributor portal, 70% of those requests disappear, saving about 41 hours per month. At a loaded cost of 45 TND per hour, that is 1,845 TND per month, or 22,140 TND (about 7,300 USD) per year, not counting fewer document version errors. The 16,000 TND export module pays for itself in under 9 months.
FAQ
Can we present our medicines in the public section?
An institutional overview of the range (therapeutic areas, number of products, production sites) remains possible. Detailed information on prescription-only medicines should be restricted to healthcare professionals, and any promotional material must follow the regulator's approval rules.
How do we verify that a visitor is a healthcare professional?
The most common approach is registration with a professional licence number and validation by your team within 48 h. Automatic validation can be added if a reference file is available, for an extra 4,000 to 8,000 TND (1,300 to 2,600 USD).
Is a trilingual site essential?
For an exporting lab, English opens English-speaking markets and the Middle East, while Arabic strengthens credibility in North Africa and the Gulf. Budget 6,000 to 12,000 TND per additional language with technical review.
Where should the site and pharmacovigilance data be hosted?
Hosting in Tunisia or the European Union, with encryption and daily backups, is the recommended practice. The budget is 3,000 to 5,000 TND (1,000 to 1,650 USD) per year for a secure environment.
Can we start with the corporate site and add modules later?
Yes, provided you choose from the start an architecture that supports authentication and a database-driven catalogue. Otherwise, adding them later often costs 30 to 40% more than building them in initially.
Let's scope your project. Tell us your export markets, languages and regulatory constraints: we price a custom pharma website between 70,000 and 140,000 TND, delivered in 10 to 16 weeks. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
