Malaysia set to have first biosimilar production facility in 2024
17 Jul 2020
Malaysia is set to have its first commercial biosimilar production facility in 2024 through a joint venture involving Government-backed impact investment company VentureTECH, Duopharma Biotech Bhd and South Korea-based biotechnology firm PanGen Biotech Inc.
The companies signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to facilitate the biosimilar facility venture here today, witnessed by Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.
Khairy said the development of the first biosimilar facility in the country would give Malaysians access to more affordable treatments especially for chronic diseases.
It was also considered timely as most patents of key biologic treatments were scheduled to expire in the near future, he said.
“Definitely we want to see the biotechnology sector expand as it can promote investments and, more importantly, safeguard our health,” he told reporters after the MoU signing ceremony.
He said it was costly to enter the biologics sector but the biosimilars field has an easier entry point for Malaysia as it would save on the research cost.
The companies, in a joint statement today, said VentureTECH would invest RM15 million in the joint venture to establish the production facility and produce biosimilar drugs to cater to both domestic and export markets.
“As an impact investor, VentureTECH is armed with a mission to create substantial and meaningful socio-economic impacts in our every investment decision, whilst placing equal emphasis on local industry development,” the statement said.
It said some of the potential impacts identified from the synergy included generating high-skilled employment, increasing the demand for highly-skilled local talents particularly in the high-value biopharmaceutical products and promoting technology adoption in making healthcare, especially chronic diseases that required biosimilar treatments more affordable to the public at large, especially the B40 and M40 groups.
Source: Bernama
