Significant demand for imported active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and branded generics have attracted many Karnataka pharmaceutical companies to Bangladesh. Apart from APIs, there is a major scope for finished formulations also.
The companies are at present chalking out strategies to increase their presence in Bangladesh with promotion of better healthcare practices which could fuel positive growth, opine a cross section of Karnataka pharma companies.
Karnataka pharma majors like Biocon, Micro Labs, RL Fine Chem to Bal Pharma are now putting in efforts to strengthen their position in the region for the fiscal 2012-12.
A profusion of hospitals and increasing life style disorders, chronic and communicative diseases have opened up immense prospects, said Karnataka Drugs and Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (KDPMA).
Now there are also huge opportunities for bulk drug exporters as Bangladesh is a signatory to the Doha Agreement which permits it to produce drugs under Patent up to 2016 and sell to developed countries.
It may also be recalled that in 2005, the government of Bangladesh had revised National Drug Policy in a bid to woo multinational company (MNC) investments. All these have attracted MNCs to invest more in the country, which is giving encouraging signals for bulk drug exporters of Karnataka.
According to Espicom Business Intelligence report, the Bangladeshi pharmaceutical market has the potential to be relatively attractive. The market is projected to grow by a high one-single CAGR between 2012 and 2017. The country will have the second smallest pharmaceutical market in the Asia Pacific region in 2017.
In per capita terms, Bangladesh is projected to have the lowest rate in the Asia Pacific region in 2017. The pharmaceutical market as a percentage of health expenditure is expected to fall to represent 24 per cent in 2017. The balance of pharmaceutical trade remains negative, most of which is accountable to raw materials and antisera & vaccines, stated the Espicom report.
A study by the University of Dhaka states that the unscrupulous drug retailers sell 83.4 per cent of drugs without a formal prescription from a physician. Bangladesh is an extremely poor country and the majority of the population cannot afford to see health professionals when they fall ill. As a result, there has been a long tradition of self-medication in the country, which has led to the misuse of drugs, particularly drugs that are normally prescribed. Unlike in other markets, the Bangladeshi pharmaceutical distribution network tends to be more retail-orientated and the bulk of distribution is done by the companies themselves.
The challenges ensuing from this market is the ability to handle the price war. Though industry is known for quality, Indian pharma companies are still expected to match competition. This at times is threatening as it becomes unviable to go below certain levels. Among other problems are the delayed registration and consistent support through a local presence to ensure that the formalities for drugs exports are finalized without further impediments.
Despite the issue of pricing, the market for pharmaceuticals in Bangladesh is definitely bright and growth prospects are strong since Indian drugs have wide acceptance in Bangladesh, said Archana Dubey Mitra, Vice President-Exports, Bal Pharma Ltd.
According to Rakesh Bamzai, president, marketing, pharmaceuticals, Biocon Ltd, Bangladesh shows an increasing demand for drugs in cardiovascular, diabetes, renal failures resulting out of these life style disorders. This could help the company to generate substantial revenues from its sales of its wide range of APIs.
Bangladesh imports all category drugs from India which indicates that we are strong specially in niche category. India is an important API supplier to Bangladesh market and Bal Pharma has been around five years in the region selling APIs and also working to market with its finished formulations, Mitra added.