Pharma stocks rises on drug patent waiver

Trading of pharmaceutical stocks rose significantly yesterday following the waiver of drug patent for the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) for 17 years by the World Trade Organisation (WTO), reports BSS.
The WTO council on November 6 extended the deadline for comply with the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), allowing LDCs to avoid applying and enforcing IP (intellectual property) rights on pharmaceutical products until January 1, 2033. TRIPS, which is the trade agreement with most implications for the production of and access to drugs, particularly in developing countries, was due to expire on December 31, 2015.
Following the WTO’s decision, Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed told a press conference on Sunday that the local pharmaceutical sector would get more benefit from the extension as the country is more capable of manufacturing pharmaceutical products than any other LDCs.
Shares of the major pharma companies on Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) got investors attention on extension of TRIPS, with major issues of this sector closing higher despite the share price fall across the board yesterday.
The higher trading of pharma stocks contributed 12.0 per cent of the daily trade value on DSE while 5.21 lakh securities worth Tk nearly 40 crore changed hands. The increase in the daily trade value was over 28.0 per cent.
Currently about 250 drug manufacturing companies of the country are producing various drugs. Of them 30 companies are exporting medicine to 107 countries, including Germany, USA, French, Italy, UK and Canada. The number of listed companies under the pharmaceuticals and chemicals sector is 27.

Pharma stocks rises on drug patent waiver

Trading of pharmaceutical stocks rose significantly yesterday following the waiver of drug patent for the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) for 17 years by the World Trade Organisation (WTO), reports BSS. The WTO council on November 6 extended the deadline for comply with the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), allowing LDCs to avoid applying and enforcing IP (intellectual property) rights on pharmaceutical products until January 1, 2033. TRIPS, which is the trade agreement with most implications for the production of and access to drugs, particularly in developing countries, was due to expire on December 31, 2015. Following the WTOs decision, Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed told a press conference on Sunday that the local pharmaceutical sector would get more benefit from the extension as the country is more capable of manufacturing pharmaceutical products than any other LDCs. Shares of the major pharma companies on Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) got investors attention on extension of TRIPS, with major issues of this sector closing higher despite the share price fall across the board yesterday. The higher trading of pharma stocks contributed 12.0 per cent of the daily trade value on DSE while 5.21 lakh securities worth Tk nearly 40 crore changed hands. The increase in the daily trade value was over 28.0 per cent. Currently about 250 drug manufacturing companies of the country are producing various drugs. Of them 30 companies are exporting medicine to 107 countries, including Germany, USA, French, Italy, UK and Canada. The number of listed companies under the pharmaceuticals and chemicals sector is 27.