KUALA LUMPUR (June 13): Pharmaniaga Bhd is in “very serious” discussions with the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) with regards to a Covid-19 vaccine distribution deal for the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) countries in Africa, according to its group managing director Datuk Zulkarnain Md Eusope.
Zulkarnain said the pharmaceutical company has maintained its strategy to expand its Covid-19 vaccine business overseas, particularly to countries in Africa.
“When you talk about this year, we are going to market our vaccine not only in Malaysia but also outside the country. Right now we are in talks with a lot of countries in Africa, and if I am not mistaken, 15 countries.
“This is because Africa currently has a population of 1.2 billion, but its vaccination rate is very low. Certain African nations have not even reached 15%. Half of them have not reached 20%,” he told the media in a press conference after Pharmaniaga’s 1QFY22 financial performance media briefing.
Last August, Pharmaniaga had shared plans to expand the Covid-19 vaccine business outside of Malaysia and has thus far successfully secured orders for 200,000 doses from the private sector in Myanmar.
Zulkarnain highlighted that the reason behind the low vaccination rate of African nations is low funding levels, and that Pharmaniaga has been in discussion with the IDB to resolve the funding issue for OIC countries on the continent.
“The issue is that they have a lack of funds [to purchase the vaccines], therefore we have been in discussion with the International Development Bank (IDP) whereby they will survey the situation and decide whether to aid OIC countries in Africa by purchasing vaccines.
“Right now, we are in very serious discussion with IDB and a few countries, and we have been visited by many different ambassadors [from] seven African countries. These embassies visited us to discuss the purchase of Covid-19 vaccines,” he said.
Zulkarnain said if this new Covid-19 vaccination distribution deal is secured, Pharmaniaga's revenue in the coming quarters will be comparable to the levels seen last year.
Meanwhile, in terms of other expansion strategies, Zulkarnain said Pharmaniaga aims to expand its pharmaceutical market presence to the UK, Turkey as well as countries in the Middle East and North Africa region. However, this will take two to three years to materialise in view of the time needed to adhere to regulatory requirements and pharmaceutical product registration.
For the UK market, Zulkarnain said Pharmaniaga is in active engagement with former National Health Service (NHS) personnel in order to understand regulatory matters in the country.
However, he noted that the company is looking into potential avenues to shorten the process of entering the UK market via surveying for products that have already been registered but have not been sold in the market.
Shares in Pharmaniaga finished 2.5 sen or 3.91% lower at 61.5 sen, giving the company a market capitalisation of RM805.62 million.