| Cover Story |
AA as halal. Leonard Ariff said that
en Biotech had taken the initiative to
e halal certification and Duopharma
ch will also look into obtaining the
Malaysia certification from JAKIM
the technology transfer has been
leted and full production has been set
its Klang facility.
n the corporate front, we are building
onships towards generating a vibrant
pharmaceuticals community. Early
ear, we successfully organised our
d Halal Pharmaceutical Symposium
laboration with Universiti
gsaan Malaysia, which attracted
than 200 delegates ranging from
-makers, regulatory officials,
mic institutions to business leaders
alal experts. We are planning a second
ar in Q3 2020 for corporate and
h practitioners for an industry-driven
tive to highlight the benefits and
tunities for halal pharma products. “
ith the revised MS2424 approved
e 2019, which carries a new title,
24:2019, Halal Pharmaceuticals -
ral Requirements, Duopharma is
ing with several partners to foster
evelopment of halal-certified stem
roducts and vaccines. The revised
ard incorporates a new component on
vaccines, which can also be applied to
ilars or biologic medical products.
opharma Biotech is positive about
otential of halal pharmaceuticals
laysia as consumers are becoming
discerning about what they consume,
and this includes pharmaceuticals, and in
particular vitamins and supplements.
The Halal Industry Master Plan
2030, developed by Halal Development
Corporation, estimated that the Halal
Pharmaceutical market for Malaysia
was valued at US$3.4 billion in 2018 and
projected to grow to US$5.9 billion in 2030.
Leonard Ariff said the main challenge
was to create awareness of halal
pharmaceuticals, so that key stakeholders
were on the same page regarding halal
pharma. All parties need to work towards
a common objective of creating a
harmonised halal pharma standard and
a supportive ecosystem in order to build
the market based on shared values and
managing expectations.
Effects of regulating drug prices
Turning to the government’s plan to
regulate prices of medicines in the country,
Leonard Ariff said price controls could
possibly force innovators to look at other
markets beyond Malaysia.
“Based on MOH’s explanation, the
mechanism will enable a lower average
price. As far as pricing of innovator drugs
goes, Malaysia is one of the lowest in
the Asia Pacific region. As Malaysia is a
relatively small market, there will virtually
be no impact on the level of innovation
internationally due to these price controls.”
He detailed recent examples of
shortages arising from supply disruptions
in pharmaceuticals due to various forms
of Covid-19 global lockdowns, adding that
it was important that any price control did
not position Malaysia as an economically
untenable market for innovative drugs.
For 2020, Leonard Ariff said there were
various challenges, some of which were
anticipated, such as the weakness of the
Ringgit, the upward pressure on raw
material prices, attracting the right talent
into the organisation and the fall-out from
the trade war between China and the US.
“We had organised our businesses to
improve efficiencies to dampen any
impact on our cost of production.
However, the recent unanticipated
challenges include Covid-19, which has
impacted traditional supply chains and
the Malaysian Ringgit, which we are
monitoring closely.” — The Health