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The country's pharmaceuticals sector experienced a number of positive developments in the outgoing year (2018), insiders said.
Significant growth in export earning, inauguration of an industrial zone for producing pharma raw materials, and accreditation of the government laboratory by the US are some of them, they added.
According to available data, the export earning of local pharmaceutical industry surpassed US$ 100-million mark for the first time in last fiscal year (FY), 2017-18.
As per the figures of state-run Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), local pharmaceutical industry fetched $103.46 million in last FY through export. The amount was about 16 per cent higher than the earning in FY 2016-17 ($89.17 million).
During the first five months of the current FY (July-November 2018), the sector earned $57.79 million through export, which was 33.96 per cent higher than that of corresponding period.
When contacted, S M Shafiuzzaman, Secretary General of Bangladesh Association of Pharmaceutical Industries (BAPI), said the outgoing year has been a year of achievement for the sector.
"We've seen a number of developments in 2018 following the government's declaration to select pharmaceuticals as product of the year."
Local drug makers are now producing almost all types of medicines, ranging from insulin to anti-cancer drugs.
Bangladeshi drug manufacturers can meet over 98 per cent of the local demand, whereas the country was heavily dependent on imported drugs just a decade ago, he further said.
"The country is strengthening its foothold, as it has established an Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) Industrial Park at Gazaria in Munshiganj to produce raw materials for different drugs."
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the park in early November. The manufacturers will get 20 per cent cash incentive on API export and 10 per cent on formulated drugs, he added.
According to Mr Zaman, at present the size of Bangladeshi pharma market is over Tk 180 billion, which is exporting medicines to 151 countries including India, Sri Lanka, Germany, the US, France, Italy, the UK, and Canada.
The government's Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA) also undertook several initiatives for the sector's betterment.
National Control Laboratory (NCL), run by DGDA, received accreditation certificates from Bangladesh Accreditation Board (BAB) and the US-based American National Accreditation Board (ANAB).
Such achievement will help boost acceptability of local drugs in new export markets, the sector insiders said.
DGDA also launched clinical trial service of medicines to ensure safety and to make them more effective. Seven Contract Research Organisations (CRO) and thirty one clinical trial protocols have been approved to this effect, they also said.
The government has also taken steps to register and fix the maximum retail price (MRP) of some medical devices, including cardiac stent, heart valve, pacemaker and intraocular lenses to address volatility of their market price.
Besides, the government directed the pharmaceutical companies concerned to recall all Valsartan-related medicines, made of certain Chinese raw materials, from the market in July 2018.
The directive came after cancer-causing impunity was detected in raw materials of a particular Chinese company - Zhejiang Huahai.
However, there were many incidents of irregularities in retail medicine outlets throughout the year, despite frequent raids of the government agencies to check sale of illegal and adulterated drugs.