Stock investors started to pour funds on pharmaceutical equities hoping to make gains thanks to the17-year drug patent waiver to the Least Developed Countries (LDCs).
On Friday, the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) council meeting approved extension of the transition period for pharmaceutical products for the least developed countries till 2032.
Yesterday, market capitalisation of pharmaceutical sector on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) stood at over Tk40,100 crore, snatching the market cap crown from banks. In the last two days, its market cap jumped almost 30%.
Pharmaceuticals also grabbed the highest attention of the market participants, comprising 20.4% of the total daily turnover.
“Amid the turbulence, pharmaceutical silently emerged as the largest capitalisation sector, coinciding extension of waiver from royalty payment to patented drugs for Bangladesh till 2032,” said IDLC Investment in its market commentary.
TRIPs facility has brightened exporters hope.
“The country’s pharmaceutical will become the second largest export earner after RMG within the next three years, taking stock of the patent waiver facility,” said Bangladesh Aushad Shilpa Samity President Nazmul Hassan.
Additional Research Director of Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Khondaker Golam Moazzem said, “The waiver will help expand the sector as it will attract investments both from foreign and local.”
According to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), Bangladesh exported medicines worth $72.64m in the last fiscal year.
At present, some 250 Bangladeshi pharmaceutical companies are now meeting 97% of domestic demands while 30 companies are exporting to 107 countries, especially LDCs. The domestic market size of the pharmaceutical is $1.4bn.