CORRECT(05/05): Beximco Eyes Manufacturing Deals With Drug Makers
06 Mai 2010 - 12:14PM
Dow Jones News
Drug maker Beximco Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (BXP.LN) Wednesday said
it is in talks with major Western pharmaceutical companies about
manufacturing their products under contract at its facilities in
Bangladesh.
Dhaka-based Beximco has held talks with companies including
GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK.LN), Novartis AG (NOVN.VX) and Watson
Pharmaceuticals Inc. (WPI) about making medicines under license for
sale in developing markets and possibly in the West, Managing
Director Nazmul Hassan told Dow Jones Newswires.
The company already makes some big drug makers' products under
license, like GlaxoSmithKline's asthma medicine Ventolin.
Beximco is seeking to exploit two key trends in the
pharmaceutical industry: drug makers' desire to grow sales in
emerging markets and their desire to trim costs.
Hassan said Bangladesh is one of the cheapest places to
manufacture drugs in the world because white collar staff like
pharmacists and engineers are paid less there than in rival
countries like India or China. Electricity is also cheaper, he
added.
Hassan said Beximco's facilities have passed inspections by
Australian, Middle Eastern and Brazilian authorities and the
company is applying to have them approved by the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration and the U.K.'s Medicines and Healthcare Products
Regulatory Agency. South African approval is expected shortly.
Such approvals would firm up its facilities' credentials and
help it win manufacturing business, he said.
Contract manufacturing of prescription drugs was worth $27
billion a year globally in 2007 and will rise to $70 billion by
2012, according to Beximco, which is listed on London's junior
Alternative Investment Market.
Beximco's main business currently is selling branded generic
medicines in Bangladesh and other developing countries, where it
competes with Indian rivals and big generic companies like Teva
Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (TEVA).
Tuesday, it reported a 21% year-on-year rise in revenue in 2009
to 4.87 billion Bangladesh taka, or roughly GBP47 million, driven
largely by exports and new products. It registered 51 generic
medicines in 12 countries, and introduced 26 new drugs to its
portfolio of more than 400.
Earnings also benefited from political stability in Bangladesh
following upheavals in 2007, which Hassan said stalled the
company's progress.
Company Web site: www.beximco-pharma.com
-By Jason Douglas, Dow Jones Newswires; 44-20-7842-9272;
jason.douglas@dowjones.com