Pharmaceuticals Industry of Bangladesh

The pharmaceutical industry in Bangladesh is one of the most developed technology sectors within the country. Manufacturers produce insulin, hormones, and cancer drugs. This sector provides 97% of the total medicinal requirement of the local market. The local market size of pharma is expected to surpass US$ billion by 2025. The industry also exports medicines to global markets, including Europe. Pharmaceutical companies are expanding their business with the aim to expand the export market.

There are 5 types of medicine manufacturing companies in Bangladesh.

  1. Allopathic Drug Manufacturers
  2. Ayurvedic Drug Manufacturers
  3. Unani Drug Manufacturers
  4. Herbal Drug Manufacturers
  5. Homoeopathic & Biochemic Drug Manufacturers

Bangladesh Pharma has high capability in specialized pharmaceuticals:

The industry continues its strong research orientation in generic formulation development and has already proven its skills with successful development of specialized, high-tech formulations which are very difficult to imitate. Leading companies have focused on specialized dosage delivery systems to create strong differentiation and successfully developed metered dose inhaler (MDI), dry powder inhaler (DPI), lyophilized injectables, sterile ophthalmic, prefilled syringes, oral thin films, multi-layer tablets, biological products, including insulin, vaccines etc.

Opportunities in Global Generic Drugs & Bangladesh is an emerging generic hub in Asia:

  1. Global generics market is valued at around US $1.06 trillion and is projected to grow $1.25 trillion by 2021
  2. Generic drugs will continue to grow maintaining healthy rate
  3. Drugs worth more than $150b coming off patent by 2021
  4. Rising healthcare cost, particularly cost of medicine has become a global concern
  5. Developed countries are increasingly promoting use of generic drugs
  6. MNCs are increasingly outsourcing their production for cost containment
  7. Bangladesh offers tremendous manufacturing cost advantages
  8. Major generic hubs India and China are losing cost advantages
  9. Medicine price in Bangladesh is currently among the lowest in the world
  10. Extended patent waiver from TRIPS

Statistics:


Export Performance of Pharmaceuticals for last five:

Value in USD Million
FY Year Export Performance
2016-17 88.74
2017-18 103.45
2018-19 129.94.2
2019-20 135.78
2020-21 169.02

Main Export Market:

Top 10 Pharmaceuticals Exporting Destination in FY2020-2021

Value in million (USD)
Rank RaName of the Export Destinationnk FY 2020-21
1 MM: Myanmar 22.24 M
2 LK: Sri Lanka 20.56 M
3 US: United States 14.98 M
4 PH: Philippines 13.76 M
5 KE: Kenya 9.39 M
6 AF: Afghanistan 7.63 M
7 CO: Cambodia 6.90 M
8 NP: Nepal 5.51 M
9 VE: Venezuela 5.49 M
10 VN: Vietnam 5.05 M
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Global Footprint


  1. Export is growing fast; the current export earning is $169.02
  2. Bangladesh Government has declared Pharmaceuticals as the “Thrust Sector”
  3. Approximately 1200 pharmaceutical products received registration for export over the last two years and are being exported to more than 100 countries including USA, UK, Australia and Africa
  4. Leading companies have increasing focus on regulated markets, including USA and Europe
  5. Sector has attracted huge attention from clients abroad

Few of Our Global Client:

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