Economic fragility hurts pharma sector’s growth

Country's pharmaceutical industry grew far below the mark in the financial year (FY) 2013-14 due to lingering impacts of economic troubles, many industry-insiders said.
And the setback is taking a toll on export earning from the sector.
People in the pharmaceutical sector termed the slower growth in the sector as 'alarming' as never seen before.
According to the IMS Health, a US-based pharmaceutical-research organisation, Bangladesh's pharmaceutical industry grew 8.44 per cent during the year that began in July in 2013 -- half the usual year-on-year growth rate of 14-15 per cent.
Data available with the IMS, which has operations in 100-plus countries, including Bangladesh, showed that there are many molecules like ciprofloxacin, vitamin-E and azithromycin that saw negative growth in the period under review.
However, the country's pharmaceutical market stood at Tk 105.82 billion in June last against Tk 97.58 billion in the corresponding period a year earlier.
Abdul Muktadir, managing director of a leading pharmaceutical company, Incepta Pharmaceuticals, told the FE that the ongoing poor economic activity, including slower investment, was the main reason behind the bad performance of the sector.
He said patients do not take full dose of drugs or avoid taking drugs under such type of situation in the economy, leading to fall in the retail sales of the pharmaceutical products.
Recalling the worst situation in the last October-December period, Mr Muktadir said that quarter had affected much the industry and many plants were still reeling from that adversity. The Incepta chief said the existing growth in the sector is almost equivalent to half its usual rate.
Dr Momenul Haq, managing director of General Pharmaceuticals, said, "We are really concerned following the slower growth of our sector that we never have seen before."
Mr Haq memorises: "It used to grow double digit and was very impressive; even it used to grow 24-25 per cent five to six years back."
He said they talked the matter with the colleagues in the sector to identify the reasons.
"We even talked with the bankers concerned and they informed us the economic activities are the main reason for the slump," Mr Haq further said.
He said the situation hardly took a turn for the better even in the July-September quarter of 2014.
Many entrepreneurs believe that big investments and higher employments in the country could help a turnaround in the sector again.
Md Harunur Rashid, managing director at Globe Pharmaceuticals, observed there had been no hartal or shutdown in the country since January 05 last but the sector was not rebounding.
"To my mind, there is a prolonged effect of shutdowns on the country's industrial sectors, and probably this sector is facing it," Mr Rashid said.
According to the latest data, sales of many branded products were far less than expectation. And in many cases some products had negative growth in terms of sales.
Napa, a widely sold product of Beximco Pharmaceuticals, fell by nearly 4.0 per cent in the period.
Sales of Neotack, an anti-ulcer drug of the Square Pharmaceuticals, posted a negative growth of 1.62 per cent in the period under review.
Mixtard 30 HM, a drug for diabetic patients of Novo Nordisk Pharma, went down more than 24 per cent in July-June period against its corresponding period a year earlier.
However, market insiders have blamed a substantial rise in the prices of drugs and medicines for the past few months for the deceleration of the pharma sector growth.
jasimharoon@yahoo.com