Biopharm has Asean firmly in sights after OEM deal with Pfizer

The Pfizer contract, which was inked in November, is initially for the production and supply of its medical products in the domestic market, marketing director Sakesuk Kasemsuwan said yesterday.

However, the company is negotiating with the global top-five maker over another firm agreement for production and supply of the items elsewhere in Asean.

Under the first OEM deal, Biopharm will produce about 20 antibiotic and cardiovascular products for Pfizer, including a plan to penetrate the Asean market for these items over the next three years.

To ensure it is well prepared to meet the requirements of its business partners, the company has earmarked a further Bt100 million for the development of facilities at its factory in Bangpu Industrial Estate in Samut Prakan. Over the past two years, it has spent about Bt400 million on the plant for OEM purposes.

Sakesuk added that the company could enjoy technology and know-how transfer from Pfizer under the new collaboration.

Meanwhile, Biopharm is negotiating with potential pharmaceutical partners in Australia, North America and Europe over the export of their products.

The company currently exports more than 150 items to Hong Kong, Singapore, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, the Middle East and Africa.

For the domestic market, the company will focus on increasing the proportion of consumer products and food supplements distributed though retail outlets to 38 per cent this year, while the remainder of its sales will be from pharmaceuticals for hospitals and clinics.

"We have to reduce the proportion of products for hospitals and healthcare clinics to 62 per cent this year because of high competition among players," said managing director Virapatna Thakolsri.

Underlining the sale of consumer products and supplements, the company has budgeted about 10 per cent of annual revenue for advertising and marketing events, Virapatna said.