Pharma CMOs in Bangladesh: Looking beyond Indo-China

The Bangladesh pharmaceutical market is growing rapidly and has almost doubled over the last five years. Bangladesh pharmaceutical industry is dominated by the local pharma companies and they hold the major market share. The local manufacturers are mainly involved in the production of generic drugs, thus the generic drugs rule the Bangladesh pharma market. Bangladesh is emerging as a potential pharma hub as the pharma companies are investing in developing their new state of art manufacturing facilities for producing quality drugs for exporting to the developed nations. This article will discuss about the booming potential, strength & weakness, regulations, export strength and position of MNCs in Bangladesh pharmaceutical market. Introduction:- The Bangladesh pharma industry contributes to 1% of GDP and it is the third largest tax paying industry in the country. The main focus of pharmaceutical firms is on branded generic final formulations using imported APIs. The pharmaceutical market in Bangladesh is insignificant when compared to the population size as they lack spending power. The total healthcare expenditures accounts to just 3.4% of GDP (6%). The pharmaceutical industry has made significant progress after the enactment of the National Drug Policy in 1982. Ever year pharmaceutical export is increasing at a higher pace, contributing prominently to the GDP of the country. Pharma sector is the second largest potential sector in terms of foreign currency for Bangladesh.   Author: Saranraj Sivabushnam