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Incepta unleashes first vaccine plant
Wed, Jan 18th, 2012
Savar, Jan 18 (bdnews24.com)Drug major Incepta Pharmaceuticals Ltd on Wednesday launched the first vaccine facility capable of large scale production in Bangladesh, aiming to provide millions with cheaper shots and save billions in foreign currency.
The launch of the nearly Tk 2 billion state-of-the-art wing dawns a new era in the drug industry that could so far meet 97 percent of local demands, except vaccines.
Health and family welfare minister A F M Ruhal Haque formally inaugurated the highly technology dependent Incepta Vaccine Ltd at Zirabo in Savar on the capital's outskirts amid admiration by health policymakers and experts.
"It's a great opening for our people. People of our country had to buy these vaccines at high prices earlier. Now they will get it at cheaper rate," the minister said.
He took time to congratulate the company on its 'timely cooperation' to strengthen the government's vaccination programmes.
The government carries out vaccination through its Expanded Programme on Immunisation that needs to buy nearly 90 million vaccines every year from abroad.
According to EPI, the government has to buy $ 20 million worth of vaccines per year apart from support from Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation.
The health minister said: "We have to buy vaccines from international market, if we get it from here why will we buy those from abroad?"
"We have the capacity to produce 18 million vaccines a year right now," said Abdul Muktadir, the managing director of Incepta, once a plucky upstart that is now an industry behemoth with a marked global presence.
Muktadir spearheads the company with strong local roots that started its venture in 1999 with 30 staff. Twelve years on, it employs more than 6,000 people and the annual turnover exceeded Tk 8 billion of the total Tk 70 billion pharmaceutical market shared by 250 companies.
Incepta has been ranked by Intercontinental Marketing Services as second best pharmaceutical firm in Bangladesh since 2008 and the fastest growing among the top five manufacturing companies. It produces 250 generic in 650 dosage forms and was the first to take initiative to produce insulin in Bangladesh.
The pharma giant now exports drugs to 35 countries including a Central American country and will export to UK shortly, marketing manager E H Arefin Ahmed said.
"We try our best sincerely and honestly," Muktadir told bdnews24.com. "We always try to fill up the therapeutic gaps in the market by providing newer and modern medicines."
Muktadir said their vaccine plant is completely independent. "Even we generate our own electricity," he said and added that there is farm to rear animal for vaccine testing.
The MD said they will follow comply WHO standard in the production of vaccines.
Incepta Vaccine has been producing vaccines for typhoid, rabies and tetanus since June 2011 even though it was formally launched on Wednesday. It plans to manufacture Hepatitis-B, Polio, Measles, Rubella, and Tetanus antitoxin, Pentavalent and other necessary vaccines in near future.
Muktadir said locally manufactured vaccines will help to save billions in foreign currencies and will also make the products available in the local market.
"There are also doubts about the potency of vaccines as it is difficult to maintain cold chain during transportation," he said. The good news, he said, is that they developed a system to maintain required temperature during supply that requires vaccines to be transported from their fully automated cold room to cold chain box.
"We have modern and high performance cold vans to transport (vaccines) from the central store to places across the country," he said.
A vaccine expert, Prof Nazrul Islam who visited the company's manufacturing plant, told bdnews24.com that it's beginning of a new era.
"It (vaccine production) should start from somewhere. They (Incepta) did it. It's wonderful."
Acting director general of the Directorate General of Health Services A F M Saiful Islam said Incepta deserves congratulations for their effort. "But I would like to urge them to keep (vaccine) prices at an affordable level for the poor."
National Professor M R Khan said he first brought vaccines for the children in 1965. "I have been dreaming of the day to see Bangladesh can produce vaccine. It happened today."
Health secretary Mohammad Humayun Kabir said it would ease the government's effort to reach vaccine to all. He sought Incepta's support in using their cold chain in the districts.
Popular Pharmaceuticals Ltd produces vaccine on a limited scale.
Scare of the avian influenza and swine flu and new emerging infections like SARS and the introduction of cancer and rotavirus vaccines have led to phenomenal growth in the vaccine market in the last few years.
The global vaccine market sales were worth $ 27.6 billion by the end of 2011. Pandemic influenza vaccines were the best selling vaccines with sales of over $ 5 billion followed by hepatitis B vaccines.
Cancer vaccines and vaccines for allergy, asthma and smoking cessation are potential blockbusters, according to a global research firm.
Wed, Jan 18th, 2012
Savar, Jan 18 (bdnews24.com)Drug major Incepta Pharmaceuticals Ltd on Wednesday launched the first vaccine facility capable of large scale production in Bangladesh, aiming to provide millions with cheaper shots and save billions in foreign currency.
The launch of the nearly Tk 2 billion state-of-the-art wing dawns a new era in the drug industry that could so far meet 97 percent of local demands, except vaccines.
Health and family welfare minister A F M Ruhal Haque formally inaugurated the highly technology dependent Incepta Vaccine Ltd at Zirabo in Savar on the capital's outskirts amid admiration by health policymakers and experts.
"It's a great opening for our people. People of our country had to buy these vaccines at high prices earlier. Now they will get it at cheaper rate," the minister said.
He took time to congratulate the company on its 'timely cooperation' to strengthen the government's vaccination programmes.
The government carries out vaccination through its Expanded Programme on Immunisation that needs to buy nearly 90 million vaccines every year from abroad.
According to EPI, the government has to buy $ 20 million worth of vaccines per year apart from support from Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation.
The health minister said: "We have to buy vaccines from international market, if we get it from here why will we buy those from abroad?"
"We have the capacity to produce 18 million vaccines a year right now," said Abdul Muktadir, the managing director of Incepta, once a plucky upstart that is now an industry behemoth with a marked global presence.
Muktadir spearheads the company with strong local roots that started its venture in 1999 with 30 staff. Twelve years on, it employs more than 6,000 people and the annual turnover exceeded Tk 8 billion of the total Tk 70 billion pharmaceutical market shared by 250 companies.
Incepta has been ranked by Intercontinental Marketing Services as second best pharmaceutical firm in Bangladesh since 2008 and the fastest growing among the top five manufacturing companies. It produces 250 generic in 650 dosage forms and was the first to take initiative to produce insulin in Bangladesh.
The pharma giant now exports drugs to 35 countries including a Central American country and will export to UK shortly, marketing manager E H Arefin Ahmed said.
"We try our best sincerely and honestly," Muktadir told bdnews24.com. "We always try to fill up the therapeutic gaps in the market by providing newer and modern medicines."
Muktadir said their vaccine plant is completely independent. "Even we generate our own electricity," he said and added that there is farm to rear animal for vaccine testing.
The MD said they will follow comply WHO standard in the production of vaccines.
Incepta Vaccine has been producing vaccines for typhoid, rabies and tetanus since June 2011 even though it was formally launched on Wednesday. It plans to manufacture Hepatitis-B, Polio, Measles, Rubella, and Tetanus antitoxin, Pentavalent and other necessary vaccines in near future.
Muktadir said locally manufactured vaccines will help to save billions in foreign currencies and will also make the products available in the local market.
"There are also doubts about the potency of vaccines as it is difficult to maintain cold chain during transportation," he said. The good news, he said, is that they developed a system to maintain required temperature during supply that requires vaccines to be transported from their fully automated cold room to cold chain box.
"We have modern and high performance cold vans to transport (vaccines) from the central store to places across the country," he said.
A vaccine expert, Prof Nazrul Islam who visited the company's manufacturing plant, told bdnews24.com that it's beginning of a new era.
"It (vaccine production) should start from somewhere. They (Incepta) did it. It's wonderful."
Acting director general of the Directorate General of Health Services A F M Saiful Islam said Incepta deserves congratulations for their effort. "But I would like to urge them to keep (vaccine) prices at an affordable level for the poor."
National Professor M R Khan said he first brought vaccines for the children in 1965. "I have been dreaming of the day to see Bangladesh can produce vaccine. It happened today."
Health secretary Mohammad Humayun Kabir said it would ease the government's effort to reach vaccine to all. He sought Incepta's support in using their cold chain in the districts.
Popular Pharmaceuticals Ltd produces vaccine on a limited scale.
Scare of the avian influenza and swine flu and new emerging infections like SARS and the introduction of cancer and rotavirus vaccines have led to phenomenal growth in the vaccine market in the last few years.
The global vaccine market sales were worth $ 27.6 billion by the end of 2011. Pandemic influenza vaccines were the best selling vaccines with sales of over $ 5 billion followed by hepatitis B vaccines.
Cancer vaccines and vaccines for allergy, asthma and smoking cessation are potential blockbusters, according to a global research firm.
