STAR BUSINESS REPORT

Bangladesh’s pharmaceutical industry could face major challenges after graduation from least developed country (LDC) status due to weak research capacity, reliance on imported raw materials, and the possible loss of patent waivers, which could raise medicine prices, according to experts.

“Recent studies have raised concerns about Bangladesh’s pharmaceutical sector ahead of the post-LDC graduation period, particularly its weak research and development capacity,” said Syed Abdul Hamid, professor at the Institute of Health Economics at the University of Dhaka.

He made the remarks yesterday while presenting the keynote at a workshop titled “Strengthening pharmaceutical industry competitiveness and innovation for sustainable growth in the context of LDC graduation”.

The workshop was jointly organised by the Institute of Health Economics, the health ministry and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) at the Pan Pacific Sonargaon Dhaka.

Citing a Centre for Policy Dialogue study, he said that “only 3.4 percent of total investment in the sector goes to research and development,” adding that many firms are more interested in buying patent rights after the TRIPS waiver expires than investing in innovation.

Hamid warned that “medicine prices, especially for patented drugs, could rise sharply once Bangladesh loses the waiver benefits,” as local manufacturers would no longer be able to reverse-engineer patented medicines without licences.