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Local pharma sales may reach $2b by 2018: study

Star Business Report
Annual pharmaceutical sales are likely to hit $2 billion by 2018, riding on increasing demand for good-quality medicine, according to a study by IMS Health, a leading global information and technology service provider to healthcare and life sciences industries.
The growth in sales could be even
higher than projected if the political situation remains stable, said Aminur Rahman, IMS Health’s managing director for Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. At present, the local pharma market stands at $ 1.2 billion, he said.
Rahman spoke at Samson H Chowdhury Memorial Conference 2015, organised by Square Pharma at Kurmitola Golf Club, Dhaka yesterday.
"The target is not too big. We must explore export opportunities as well as the local market," said Syed S Kaiser Kabir, managing director of Renata.
Pharma exports rose 15.65 percent year-on-year to Tk 553.3 crore in fiscal 2013-14, boosted by the country’s high-quality products at competitive prices against rising global demand.
If the local companies follow good manufacturing practices set by World Health Organisation, they can develop products to export to the regulated markets, Kabir said.
"The local and the export markets have immense potential and we have to expand production capacity to meet the growing demand for medicine in both," said Salman F Rahman, president of Bangladesh Association of Pharmaceutical Industries (BAPI).
The quality of medicines is the main concern for every manufacturer, he said.
Bangladeshi companies should invest in developing biological drugs as the demand will grow sharply in the coming days, said Rabbur Reza, chief operating officer of Beximco Pharma.
The global pharma market stands at $1.3 trillion, of which 25 percent is accounted for by biological medicines, he said. Also, seven of the top ten products in the global market are biological medicines, he said.
Many biological medicines are made from a variety of natural sources such as humans, animals or microorganisms.
Like other medicines, biological drugs are intended to treat diseases and medical conditions as well as prevent or diagnose diseases.
A number of companies are developing biological medicines in the country. For instance, Incepta Pharma has invested around Tk 200 crore so far to develop biological medicines, according to company data.
Bangladeshi universities should follow a unified syllabus for pharma sector to meet the growing demand for qualified people, said ABM Faruque, a teacher of pharma technology at Dhaka University.
Companies should also partner with universities to develop new products for the sector, he said.
Of the 150 companies currently operational in the country, the top 50 meet 98 percent of the local demand for medicine, Rahman of IMS Health said.
"We are trying to make all companies compliant, but it is quite challenging," said Jahangir Hossain Mollik, director general of Drug Administration, adding that counterfeit medicine is a global problem.