By: Ferdausur Rahman, Partner, A.S & Associates
Establishment of large pharmaceutical industries has increased since the liberation of Bangladesh. During the initial period, the industries aimed at meeting the in-coutry demand of products; however, with time and globalization, the industries started exploring opportunities for expanding their market outside of the country. Generally, the national industries were producing generic drugs and they usually have weak Research and Development activities. The situation is gradually changing and the industries are increasingly recognizing that without quality control to meet international standards, their efforts to export even the generic product will not be successful. This highlights the importance of establishing Clinical Research Organizations (CRO) in Bangladesh to develop capacity to conduct bioequivalence studies that meet international standards, more importantly FDA and European requirements. Additionally, some of the industries have started producing vaccines, which will necessitate development of further capacity of the pharmaceutical industry as well.
