Beximco raises $21m via institutional placing
company has raised $21 million after it successfully completed an
institutional placing of global depositary receipts (GDRs).
The contract manufacturers, which also sell generic pharmaceutical formulation products, active pharmaceutical ingredients and intravenous fluids, have become one of the first companies to have GDRs trading on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM).
The $21 million (€17.4 million) raised has given it a post-money market capitalisation of over $100 million at the placing price.
"The potential to expand into other LDCs (Least Developed Countries), as well as into the developed European and US markets, provide us with a significant opportunity for growth," said Nazmul Hassan, chief executive of Beximco Pharmaceuticals Limited (BPL).
Bangladesh enjoys LDC status, which allows the Company to operate in a favourable international intellectual property and regulatory environment.
Additionally, it is permitted under the TRIPS Guidelines (Trade Related aspects of International Property rights) to reverse engineer on-patent pharmaceutical products and sell such products within Bangladesh and to other LDCs.
These laws, which were tightened earlier this year, have facilitated the rapid growth over the past decade of a number of generic pharmaceutical manufacturers, particularly from India.
With India no longer having LDC status, its manufacturers cannot now operate under the exemption afforded to LDCs in relation to on-patent products.
BPL, a generic pharmaceuticals company, currently has around 8 per cent share of the Bangladeshi finished formulations market and over 40 per cent share of the infusions market.
Over the last four years, the Company has invested over €36.4 million to establish a new plant at its site in Dhaka which is expected to become operational during 2006.
The plant will significantly increase manufacturing capacity, which to date has been the major constraint to growth, and is expected to facilitate the registration of the Company's products in a number of new markets including those in Europe and the US.
