Drug makers’ profits soar

Most listed pharmaceuticals companies saw their profits swell in 2017, thanks to higher expense on healthcare.

Of the 15 listed pure-play pharmaceutical companies, 11 announced an increase in profits.

Beacon Pharmaceuticals saw its profits soar 79.31 percent year-on-year to Tk 12 crore in 2017, according to Prime Finance Asset Management. Pharma Aids and Libra Infusions were in second and third positions respectively in terms of profit growth.

Square, Beximco, and Ibn Sina also logged in double-digit profit growth last year.

“Net income of our people is increasing, so they expend more on healthcare now,” said Shawkat Haider, head of business development of Beximco.

The local market of Bangladesh is a very big and going to be bigger with the increase of net income of people, he added.

In 2010, per capita healthcare expense in Bangladesh was $23, which rose to $37 in 2015, according to World Bank statistics.

Bangladesh's pharmaceuticals market doubled between 2012 and 2017. 

In 2012, the market size stood at Tk 9,390.4 crore and rose to Tk 18,755.6 crore in 2017, according to IMS Health Care Report 2017.

Square earned the highest profit of Tk 1,160.58 crore in 2017, followed by Renata at Tk 288.83 crore, Beximco at Tk 240.9 crore, and Acme Laboratories at Tk 144.31 crore.

“Our population, purchasing power, and life expectancy are increasing -- these are all positive factors for the pharmaceutical sector's growth,” said Ahmed Kamrul Alam, general manager of marketing at Square.

New export destinations are coming up too, he added. Pharmaceutical exports stood at $89.82 million in fiscal 2016-17, up 9.39 percent, according to data from the Export Promotion Bureau.