Pharmaceutical industry, one of the most dynamic and powerful sectors in Bangladesh, is technologically the most developed manufacturing industries and is the second-largest contributor to the government exchequer. The industry contributes about one per cent of the total GDP.
After gaining independence in 1971, the pharma sector in Bangladesh had been gradually growing. From a mere 15 per cent local market share in the initial days, today, the country’s pharma sector has grown to US$ 900 million, catering to 97 per cent of its local market demand. Apart from meeting from internal demand, there are about more than 10 leading Bangladeshi pharma companies that are exporting generics to the international markets. Some of them are also emerging as competitors to Indian companies in certain areas.
Bangladesh is exporting their pharmaceuticals products to Vietnam, Singapore, Myanmar, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Yemen, Oman, Thailand, and some countries of Central Asia and Africa. It also has a large market in European countries.
According to Business Monitor International report , Bangladesh has moved one step upward to occupy the 14th position within 17 regional markets surveyed by BMIs Pharmaceutical & Healthcare Business Environment ratings for the Asia region.
The domestic market of pharmaceutical products in Bangladesh has shown a tremendous growth over the last couple of years. There has been a marked value-wise growth of the market -- at the rate of 23.59 per cent in 2011 over that of 2010, according to the data released by IMS Health, Bangladesh.
According to the IMS, the size of Bangladesh's domestic drug market was $686 million in 2008, $797 million in 2009, $977 million in 2010, and it reached US $1136 million in 2011. There is a big market lying beyond the existing market in the rural areas as only about 20 per cent people in rural area are getting nursing and medical care leaving the rest of the rural market exploitable. When the entire population will be brought under healthcare the market will be automatically enlarged by several times.
Says Aminur Rahman, Managing Director, IMS Health, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, in an interview with Pharma World, Bangladesh pharmaceutical industry crossed a benchmark of US $1 billion sales last year. The growth was 23.59 per cent. This growth is significant since most of the developed countries have slow pace of growth -USA, UK, Germany all were growing at three per cent or less. Therefore, overall the market has been promising and will continue to be so in the coming years.
According to him the quality of the medicines is comparable to any country of the world. The companies are investing heavily in upgrading their manufacturing plants. They are obtaining certifications from developed countries like UK and Australia. Some foreign companies will start manufacturing in Bangladesh from this year e.g. Novo Nordisk, Mundipharma. With some exceptions with smaller local companies, overall the quality is world – class, he pointed out. According to him a significant growth is expected in the export market in the coming years through export to the developed countries.
During the the last two decades the pharmaceutical industry of Bangladesh has scaled newer peaks. Besides meeting the 97 per cent need of local demand the country is exporting the medicines into 72 countries. This sector contributes a lot into the national economy by exporting raw materials and finished goods.
Bangladesh pharmaceutical companied focus primarily on branded generic final formulations, mostly using imported APIs. About 85 per cent of the drugs sold in Bangladesh are generics and 15 per cent are patented drugs - the structure differs significantly from the international market.
Bangladesh manufactures about 450 generic drugs for 5,300 registered brands which have 8,300 different forms of dosages and strengths. These include a wide range of products from anti-ulcerants, flouroquinolones, anti-rheumatic non-steroid drugs, non-narcotic analgesics, antihistamines, and oral anti-diabetic drugs.
Some larger firms have also started producing anti-cancer and anti-retroviral drugs. Domestic manufacturers account for 97 per cent of the drug sales in the local market while the remaining three per cent are imported. This is a complete turnaround over from two/three decades back when imports used to dominate the market. The imported drugs include essential live saving drugs and other high quality drugs. The ratio will further increase in favour of the local production as some of the big players are poised to manufacture these high quality drugs in-house in the future.
The contributing factors in the growth of this market include the development of healthcare infrastructure, increase of health awareness, increased rural penetration of the manufacturers, fast increasing purchasing capacity of the people as well as different government policies to ensure health services and facilities available even in the rural areas.
The top ranking companies have already developed world class pharmaceutical plants with state-of-the-art technologies. There are world class machineries, tools, production facilities, HVAC system, effluent treatment, water generation plant, well equipped quality control system and well educated, skilled professionals working in these companies. These factors have made these companies ready to meet the expanded market demands and to increase export in terms of value and quantity as well.
Besides regular forms like tablets, capsules & syrups, Bangladesh is producing specialized products like HFA inhalers, suppositories, nasal sprays, injectables, IV infusions, etc., and has been well accepted by the medical practitioners, chemists, patients and the regulatory bodies of all the importing countries. Bangladesh is also producing high-tech medicines like anticancer drugs, hormonal products, enzymes and coenzymes at a limited scale, meeting only four per cent of the total requirements. As such, there lies a huge prospect of these pharmaceuticals categories.
The pharmaceutical industry in Bangladeshi has gone through a transformation during the last 30 years. Professional knowledge, expertise and innovative ideas of the pharmacists working in this sector have been the key factors for such transformation.