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The Health | june-july, 2020
| Cover Story |
Together with its partner, Biocon,
Duopharma Biotech intends to continue
to supply insulin to the Malaysian
government, which remains a significant
component within its speciality area
beyond 2020. It is currently supplying the
MoH on a one-year extension of insulin
procurement in 2020.
“We are also confident of securing
the supply of erythropoietin to MoH. In
addition, we will continue participating in
various contracts called by the MoH, as well
as the private market,” he said referring
to the renal biosimilar product which
was co-developed with PanGen Biotech of
Korea.
Leonard Ariff acknowledged Duopharma
Biotech had been affected by the rise of
the USD currency, which has impacted
production and operational costs since
about 50-60 per cent of the Cost of Goods is
denominated in USD.
The company also has plans to increase
market share in the keenly competitive
local market. According to IQVIA’s March
2020 report, Duopharma Biotech had 6.4 per
cent market share in terms of sales value.
“We will continue to implement our
diversification strategy. We will also move
into the biosimilars space to offer our
co-developed Erythropoietin, which will
eventually be manufactured at our plant in
Klang,” he shared.
He added the company remained positive
that it will continue its partnership with
Biocon to distribute insulin to the MoH. In
addition, it is working to build its trading
portfolio with its partners and introduce
additional biosimilars into the Malaysian
and regional markets.
“I would like to highlight that our HAPI
facility in Glenmarie is now operational
and is manufacturing a range of oncology
and psychotropic drugs, which will be
supplied to both the public and private
markets,” said Leonard Ariff.
Producing halal-certified products
Duopharma Biotech is also a pioneer in the
area of halal pharmaceuticals. Recently,
the Korea Muslim Federation (KMF), a
foreign halal certification body recognised
by JAKIM, certified PanGen Biotech Inc
and Duopharma Biotech’s co-developed
biosimilar erythropoietin branded as
I would like
to highlight
that our HAPI
facility in
Glenmarie
is now
operational
and is
manufacturing
a range of
oncology and
psychotropic
drugs, which
will be
supplied to
both the public
and private
markets.”
— Leonard Ariff
ERYSAA as halal. Leonard Ariff said that
PanGen Biotech had taken the initiative to
pursue halal certification and Duopharma
Biotech will also look into obtaining the
Halal Malaysia certification from JAKIM
once the technology transfer has been
completed and full production has been set
up at its Klang facility.
“On the corporate front, we are building
relationships towards generating a vibrant
halal pharmaceuticals community. Early
this year, we successfully organised our
second Halal Pharmaceutical Symposium
in collaboration with Universiti
Kebangsaan Malaysia, which attracted
more than 200 delegates ranging from
policy-makers, regulatory officials,
academic institutions to business leaders
and halal experts. We are planning a second
seminar in Q3 2020 for corporate and
health practitioners for an industry-driven
initiative to highlight the benefits and
opportunities for halal pharma products. “
With the revised MS2424 approved
in June 2019, which carries a new title,
MS 2424:2019, Halal Pharmaceuticals -
General Requirements, Duopharma is
engaging with several partners to foster
the development of halal-certified stem
cells products and vaccines. The revised
standard incorporates a new component on
halal vaccines, which can also be applied to
biosimilars or biologic medical products.
Duopharma Biotech is positive about
the potential of halal pharmaceuticals
in Malaysia as consumers are becoming
more 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