http://www.reportsandreports.com/market-reports/bangladesh-pharmaceuticals-and-healthcare-report-q3-2010/
Business Monitor International
Report Summary
Out of the 16 key markets surveyed in BMI’s Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare Business Environment Ratings, Bangladesh moves up two places to occupy 14th position in the table. This improvement sees it now placing above Pakistan and Cambodia, the latter being judged the least attractive proposition for investment for multinational pharmaceutical companies. Bangladesh’s pharmaceutical rating still stands at 40.0, a figure that has remained unchanged from the previous quarter and is lower than the average for the region. Nevertheless, BMI expects Bangladesh’s position to improve over the medium term as a result of rising population numbers, economic improvements and the efforts made by domestic firms to expand both their products portfolios and overseas markets. Sales of prescription drugs and over-the-counter (OTC) medications are expected to grow from US$1.17bn in 2009 to US$3.72bn in 2019, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.32%.
In February 2010, the Bangladesh government announced that more than 20mn children will be vaccinated against measles in a campaign lasting two weeks. All children aged from nine months to under five years were given the measles vaccine, while all children aged up to five years received two drops of the polio vaccine. More than 50,000 health staff, 600,000 volunteers and NGO workers were mobilised for the effort. A vaccination team consisting of two skilled vaccinators and three volunteers worked in 120,000 vaccinations sites across the country. The last major national measles campaign to be conducted in Bangladesh was in 2005- 2006.
Studies conducted by the Bangladesh Pharmaceuticals Society (BPS) have found that contract manufacturing by local companies could earn export revenues worth approximately BDK200bn (US$2.9bn) a year. At present, India, Turkey and China dominate the sector. The study also revealed that pharmaceutical exports have increased significantly over the April-March fiscal period, reaching a value of BDK10bn (US$144.76mn) this year. Over the same period last year, the figure stood at BDK6bn (US$86.98mn).
Elsewhere, a proposal has been put forward for establishing a bioequivalence and toxicity laboratory at Dhaka University’s Faculty of Pharmacy. The laboratory would be designed to ensure the quality of domesticallyproduced drugs, as well as widening the scope for locally-manufactured pharmaceuticals to be exported. The proposal is in response to growing concerns on the part of domestic pharmaceutical manufacturers, who face increasing demands from importers for additional clinical trials and toxicity tests to be conducted prior to export. At present, there are no legal and policy obligations to conduct any clinical or toxicity tests in Bangladesh.
Meanwhile, French pharmaceutical major Sanofi-Aventis announced that it has reduced the price of its cancer drug Taxotere (docetaxel) in Bangladesh, thus endorsing one of BMI’s short-term core views: drugmakers will increasingly use differential pricing in emerging markets. When Sanofi-Aventis unveiled its Taxotere ‘patient assistance programme’ in Bangladesh this year, the company provided assurances that the medicine would be sold at an ‘affordable’ price so that many more patients could receive the modern treatment.
Out of the 16 key markets surveyed in BMI’s Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare Business Environment Ratings, Bangladesh moves up two places to occupy 14th position in the table. This improvement sees it now placing above Pakistan and Cambodia, the latter being judged the least attractive proposition for investment for multinational pharmaceutical companies. Bangladesh’s pharmaceutical rating still stands at 40.0, a figure that has remained unchanged from the previous quarter and is lower than the average for the region. Nevertheless, BMI expects Bangladesh’s position to improve over the medium term as a result of rising population numbers, economic improvements and the efforts made by domestic firms to expand both their products portfolios and overseas markets. Sales of prescription drugs and over-the-counter (OTC) medications are expected to grow from US$1.17bn in 2009 to US$3.72bn in 2019, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.32%.
In February 2010, the Bangladesh government announced that more than 20mn children will be vaccinated against measles in a campaign lasting two weeks. All children aged from nine months to under five years were given the measles vaccine, while all children aged up to five years received two drops of the polio vaccine. More than 50,000 health staff, 600,000 volunteers and NGO workers were mobilised for the effort. A vaccination team consisting of two skilled vaccinators and three volunteers worked in 120,000 vaccinations sites across the country. The last major national measles campaign to be conducted in Bangladesh was in 2005- 2006.
Studies conducted by the Bangladesh Pharmaceuticals Society (BPS) have found that contract manufacturing by local companies could earn export revenues worth approximately BDK200bn (US$2.9bn) a year. At present, India, Turkey and China dominate the sector. The study also revealed that pharmaceutical exports have increased significantly over the April-March fiscal period, reaching a value of BDK10bn (US$144.76mn) this year. Over the same period last year, the figure stood at BDK6bn (US$86.98mn).
Elsewhere, a proposal has been put forward for establishing a bioequivalence and toxicity laboratory at Dhaka University’s Faculty of Pharmacy. The laboratory would be designed to ensure the quality of domesticallyproduced drugs, as well as widening the scope for locally-manufactured pharmaceuticals to be exported. The proposal is in response to growing concerns on the part of domestic pharmaceutical manufacturers, who face increasing demands from importers for additional clinical trials and toxicity tests to be conducted prior to export. At present, there are no legal and policy obligations to conduct any clinical or toxicity tests in Bangladesh.
Meanwhile, French pharmaceutical major Sanofi-Aventis announced that it has reduced the price of its cancer drug Taxotere (docetaxel) in Bangladesh, thus endorsing one of BMI’s short-term core views: drugmakers will increasingly use differential pricing in emerging markets. When Sanofi-Aventis unveiled its Taxotere ‘patient assistance programme’ in Bangladesh this year, the company provided assurances that the medicine would be sold at an ‘affordable’ price so that many more patients could receive the modern treatment.
