Beximco signed an agreement with Serum Institute of India Pvt. for a cooperation and distribution agreement to develop a COVID-19 vaccine. Beximco will be the exclusive supplier of the vaccine in Bangladesh.
Under the terms of the planned arrangement, Beximco will make a financial contribution to advance the development of the vaccine which will be adjusted based on the vaccine price. Serum Institute of India will prioritise Bangladesh to be one of the first countries to receive an agreed quantity of doses once the vaccine receives all necessary regulatory approvals.
Beximco will facilitate the needs of the Government of Bangladesh by offering the opportunity for it to reserve the desired quantities for priority supply at prices to be agreed between the government and Serum Institute of India. it will secure additional quantities of the vaccine to be distributed to the private pay market in Bangladesh. The complexity of the market and production means that any financial implications of this arrangement are difficult to forecast at the current time so the Company will provide the market with any further meaningful updates in due course.
The number of doses to be provided to Bangladesh on a priority basis and BPL’s investment amount will be dependent on regulatory approvals, SII's production capacity and earlier commitments to other countries.
Shayan F Rahman, Principal of Beximco Pharmaceuticals and Adar C Poonawalla, Chief Executive Officer of Serum Institute of India and jointly commented: “We are excited to bring together two of the leading pharma companies in India and Bangladesh with the scale and capabilities to bring a hugely promising treatment to the people who need it the most. Between us, we can go a long way towards helping to mitigate the health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Beximco Pharma was founded in 1976 and started operations in 1980, manufacturing products under the licenses of Bayer AG of Germany and Upjohn Inc. of United States. Today Beximco Pharma manufactures and markets its own branded generics for several diseases including AIDS, cancer, asthma, hypertension, and diabetes for both national and international markets. It was the first drug company from Bangladesh to sell its products in the US. In May 2020, the company introduced world’s first generic Remdesivir for Covid-19 treatment.
The company is consistently building upon its portfolio and currently producing more than 500 products encompassing broad therapeutic categories and the Company has created strong differentiation by offering a range of high-tech, specialized products which are difficult to imitate. The main manufacturing site is spread across a 22-acre area located near the capital city, Dhaka, which houses facilities for manufacturing tablets, capsules, intravenous fluids, liquids, creams, ointments, suppositories, metered dose inhalers, ophthalmic drops, large volume parenterals, sterile ophthalmics, prefilled syringes, lyophilized injectables etc. The site has its own utility infrastructure to ensure adequate generation and distribution of electricity with an installed capacity of 10 MW, besides having water purifying and liquid nitrogen generation facilities. Our penicillin units are located separately at Kaliakoir, 21 km from the main site. The company expected to launch the product through its US distribution partner in due course. Beximco noted that, according to IQVIA audited market data, the total addressable market for flecainide acetate was approximately $50m annually. Managing Director of Beximco Pharma Nazmul Hassan said in a statement that 'This approval is another important step in building and strengthening our presence in the US market'.