Beximco Pharmaceuticals Ltd. expects to be the first company to launch remedesivir in Bangladesh, a market where at least eight local firms, including Eskayef Pharmaceuticals, are said to be working on the antiviral.

Chief operating officer Rabbur Reza told Scrip the company expects to receive the first approval as it has already submitted product samples to the DGDA, the local regulatory authority, for analysis (a mandatory requirement for receiving final approval/authorization), ahead of any other company in the country.

“We are pursuing our original plan (manufacturing at our Tongi site) to launch this product as soon as possible, so that critical COVID-19 sufferers in our country can have access to this treatment soon. We will also be reaching out to Gilead [for a license],” Reza said. Some other Indian firms are also believed to be in licensing talks with Gilead for remdesivir.

Beximco declined to comment on whether it expects to be more cost effective than the current Gilead licensees for remdesivir, noting that license holders will price their products independently and “we do not know their prices”. Currently, Beximco uses imported APIs for remdesivir, though Reza said the firm expects to backward integrate as well. It’s not immediately clear if these imports are from China and how any intellectual property rights issues are being tackled.

Hetero Head On Remdesivir Partnering, Royalty Model

At Least Eight Bangladesh Firms Now In Fray

More from Business

More from Scrip