Three pharmaceuticals' capacity to produce vaccines to be assessed

It has been decided to initially examine the capacity of three pharmaceutical companies for the production of coronavirus vaccine in the country. The companies are Incepta Pharmaceuticals, Popular Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare Pharmaceuticals.

The decision was made in the first meeting of inter-ministerial advisory committee on procurement and distribution of coronavirus vaccines on Wednesday. The committee asked the Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA) to submit the final recommendation after evaluating ans scoring the three companies.

The meeting was chaired by the committee head and secretary of health service division Lokman Hossain Miah. According to DGDA, the heath service division secretary said at the meeting that the future course of action should be determined by the demand for vaccines, selecting safe and effective vaccines, procuring vaccines, distributing them and negotiating a reasonable price.

Sources said, the meeting called for speedy coordination of expert opinions to procure the Russian vaccine Sputnik-V and to finalise the supply agreement through negotiations. In addition, it was decided to bring 80 per cent of the population based on their age under vaccination plan, to collect 60 million vaccines (5 million doses per month) quickly and to procure vaccines from multiple sources instead of a single source through market analysis, at the lowest possible price.

The secretary of the health services division could not be reached for comment in this regard.

The remaining members of the seven-member committee, headed by the health service secretary, are the director general of the Directorate General of Health Service (DGHS), the director of the Central Medical Stores Depot, a director general of the prime minister's office, an official of additional secretary level of the finance division and a representative of director general level at the foreign ministry and the additional secretary of health service division.

The meeting on Wednesday included the vice chancellor of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, additional secretary of the Ministry of Jute and Textiles, director general of Central Procurement Technical Unit (CPTU), additional secretary of Law and Justice and line director of DGHS and deputy director of the DGDA.

This committee will determine the demand for vaccines based on current trends and future outbreaks of coronavirus infection in the country. Considering the price, availability, effectiveness of the vaccine, it will select the appropriate vaccine for Bangladesh from all possible internationally recognized sources of safe and effective vaccines.

Earlier on 12 April, foreign secretary Masud bin Momen said in a letter to the DGHS that Russia asked for some information including the demand for vaccines in Bangladesh and which companies are capable of producing them.

On 13 April, the director general of DGDA, Major General Mahbubur Rahman sent the names of three companies that can produce vaccines to the health service division. He said that Incepta Pharmaceuticals Limited, Popular Pharmaceuticals Limited and Healthcare Pharmaceuticals Limited have the infrastructure and necessary facilities to produce Sputnik-V. All three companies have the capacity to go into production in one to two months, he said.

*This piece, originally published in Prothom Alo print edition, has been rewritten in English by Farjana Liakat