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GOLAM RASHUL PARVEZ :
The state-owned pharmaceutical company Essential Drugs Company Limited and the US-based Dyadic International company signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
The state-owned pharmaceutical company Essential Drugs Company Limited (EDCL) on Wednesday (June 21) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with US-based Dyadic International company to set up a vaccine plant, the first of its kind in the country, to produce different vaccines including that for Covid-19.
Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Prof Dr. Ehsanul Kabir and Dyadic International CEO Mark A Emalfarb signed the deal on behalf of their respective organizations at the conference room of the Health and Family Welfare Ministry in the secretariat.
As per the deal, the US company will provide the EDCL with the necessary technical assistance to produce, preserve and maintain the quality of the vaccines.
Health Minister Zahid Maleque, who was present during the deal signing ceremony, said initially the Covid-19 vaccine will be produced at the plant.
Subsequently, twelve types of vaccines along with the Covid-19 vaccine will be produced in phases, he said.
He said Bangladesh had to bring 36 crore doses of Covid-19 vaccines worth Tk40,000 crore during the Corona pandemic but most of them were given to the country free of cost.
The health minister said the plant will be built on seven to eight acres of land by the EDCL in Gopalganj.
He said the plant will be able to produce vaccines partially in the next two years and in full swing in the next four years.
The minister said they received a commitment from the Asian Development Bank to get $300 million for establishing the plant.
Only 5 countries in the world can produce this quality vaccine, informed the minister.
The vaccine production will meet the local demand as well as earn export income, the minister said adding that such a project will help to generate employment opportunities on a large scale.
Speaking about America’s Dyadic, the minister said, the US-based company will provide us with technical assistance, manpower, and training assistance.
“The US company will have no partnership, the company will just help us to produce international standard vaccines”, added the minister.
In response to a question from journalists, the health minister said, “We hope that we will be able to go into production in the next four years.
Professor Dr. Md. Sharfuddin Ahmed, Vice–Chancellor of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University was also present on the occasion. M. Anwar Hossain Howlader, Secretary for the Health Services Division, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Professor Dr. ABM Khurshid Alam, Director General of the Directorate General of the Health Services (DGHS), and other senior officials of the Health Services Department were also present on the occasion.
“We are pleased to announce this strategic partnership with the government of Bangladesh, which demonstrates the company’s continued ability to leverage its proprietary C1 protein production platform to enhance, and in certain cases facilitate, the development and biomanufacturing infrastructure globally,” said Mark Emalfarb, Dyadic’s President, and Chief Executive Officer.
“Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina time and again reiterates her sincere commitment to research and innovation, he added.
Against this backdrop, Essential Drugs Company Limited (EDCL) is a 100% state-owned Pharmaceuticals Company in Bangladesh. In the year 1962, it was functioning under the then Central Government in the name & style of Government Pharmaceuticals Laboratory (GPL), and subsequently it was renamed as Pharmaceuticals Production Unit (PPU) in the year 1979.
In the interest of Public Health & smooth running of the organization, it was registered as a Public Limited Company under the Company’s Act-1994.
The Ministry of Health & Family Welfare of Bangladesh is its controlling authority. It was established in 1983 with the main objective of setting up an advanced pharmaceuticals industry in the country for the local production of medicines and to supply these products inside the country for public health and Export.