Experts and scholars on Saturday stressed the need for collaboration between academia and industry to open new prospects in the field of research for the country's pharmaceutical industry.
They said the industry could not yet reap the full benefits from the approved facilities, including the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), for not having substantial research in the sector.
The industry also lacks basic research and new discovery of generic drugs despite having global accreditations by some of the major companies, they said at a session of the Samson H Chowdhury Memorial Conference 2019 in the city.
Square Pharmaceuticals Ltd. organised the conference for the fourth time on Bangladesh pharmaceuticals industry and current issues.
"Collaboration between the industry and academia will remove these gaps," Md Nawabur Rahman, Director of Technical Operations of Square Pharmaceuticals Ltd., told a session titled 'Opportunities for Collaboration Between Industry and Universities/Research Centers for Pharmaceutical Development' of the conference as a keynote speaker.
He identified reasons for not having enough research in the sector, including high cost of research, stringent regulations, commercial pressure for profit, and inadequate active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and skilled human resources.
Mr Rahman stressed the need for cooperation between the industry and academia as one single company cannot do much about the research, and proposed developing a common platform for generic research to do clinical studies that will help develop new discovery of drugs.
Professor Emeritus Dr Abul Kalam Azad Chowdhury said the industry has funding and universities have the scholars. So, both sides need to have cooperation to reap the fullest of each other. He also stressed the need for updating the curriculum of related subjects in the universities.
Principal Scientific Officer of Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial research (BCSIR) Dr Hossain Sohrab, Chief Operating Officer of Beximco Pharma Rabbur Reza, Dean of Faculty of Pharmacy at University of Dhaka Dr SM Abdul Rahman, among others, also spoke at the session.
Earlier, Managing Director of Square Pharmaceuticals Ltd. Tapan Chowdhury delivered welcome speech at the conference, saying that most of the people in the country do not know the contribution of the pharmaceutical industry.
He said almost 97 per cent of the local demand worth US$ 2.1 billion is met by the local companies. "If the drugs worth $2.1 billion had imported, it would have been five times higher from the market size and we are saving this amount."
Mr Chowdhury said the industry is exporting drugs to more than 75 countries and it has immense potentials to reach all the developed countries.
He said that many Bangladeshi origin scientists are well established across the world. The country and industry needed their experience.
This conference was first held in 2013.This year around 450 esteemed participants including policymakers, government officials, industrialists, scientists, academicians and business professionals attended the conference.
The biennial conference is organised to continue the legacy of Samson H Chowdhury for spreading knowledge and encouraging involvement of academicians, public and private sectors for achieving the sustainable development goals in the healthcare sector.
Three young scientists were awarded the "Samson H Chowdhury Award for Young Scientist" this year for their outstanding research work and contribution to pharmaceuticals and healthcare sector.
The recipients of the award are Assistant Professor of Dept. of Pharmacy at Rajshahi University Ronok Zahan, Associate Professor of Dept. of Pharmaceutical Sciences at North South University Dr. Md. Hossain Shariare and Assistant Professor of Dept. of Microbiology at University of Dhaka Md. Anwar Siddique.
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