The country’s one of the leading drug makers Incepta Pharmaceuticals plans to sell its newly launched anti-hepatitis virus drug Hopetavir in overseas countries.
A $10 generic version of Sovaldi, which sells for $1,000 a pill in the US, is available in the local market.
A US-based pharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences, Inc. is the inventor of the hepatitis drug treatment.
Incepta is currently preparing quality and dissolution studies on its version of sofosbuvir to submit in support of its international applications.
“Now we are in talks with the World Health Organisation for prequalification for assessing drug quality,” Managing Director Abdul Muktadir told the Dhaka Tribune.
“If everything goes well, the product will be also launched in some countries in Africa, and some of the Southeast Asian countries.”
In the US, Sovaldi has sparked a backlash from commercial health insurers because of its cost of $84,000 for a 12-week course of treatment, according to Bloomberg.
Incepta’s price of about $900 for 12 weeks is the same price at which Gilead will offer its branded version of the drug in India.
“The price will fall in days to come, as we are trying to garner raw materials from local sources,” Muktadir said.
The local version brings the challenge facing Gilead from companies it doesn’t have agreements with in countries where the drug isn’t patented.
Under a World Trade Organisation agreement, Bangladesh, as one of the world’s least developed countries, doesn’t have to protect pharmaceutical patents.
The generic drug maker has beaten in the market a number of larger Indian competitors that were licenced by Gilead to produce low-cost versions of Sovaldi for 91 countries that are mostly poor.
Hyderabad-based Natco Pharma Ltd., one of Gilead’s licencees, launched its generic sofosbuvir in Nepal this month at $318 for a bottle of 28 tablets in Nepal, according to the company’s statement.
Founded in 1999, Incepta has more than 600 products approved for sale in Bangladesh, ranging from oral solid pills to injectable human insulin.
Presently, the company exports products to more than 40 countries, mostly less regulated markets like Mongolia, Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia, Mauritania, Democratic Republic of Congo and Afghanistan.
It also sells to more regulated markets such as Finland, the UK, Ukraine and Turkey.
