Pharmaniaga to commercialise Malaysia’s first halal blood anti-coagulant drug
PETALING JAYA: Pharmaniaga Bhd will commercialise the country’s halal ovine (sheep and goat) anti-coagulant (blood clot thinner) drug in Malaysia by 2024.
Group managing director Datuk Zulkarnain Md Eusope said the company’s partnership with China’s Suzhou Ronnsi Pharma Co Ltd (Ronnsi) will be a catalyst to trade routes of its pharmaceutical products and research and development (R&D) for the anti-coagulant drug.
“First, we will produce the raw material for this product which is derived from sheep and goat and this initiative can be carried out with local universities that have veterinary faculties such as Universiti Putra Malaysia and Universiti Malaysia Kelantan.
“This is a good opportunity for Pharmaniaga to produce the halal ovine anti-coagulant product,” he told a press conference after signing a memorandum of collaboration (MoC) with Ronnsi here today.
The MoC was signed by Zulkarnain and Ronnsi chief executive officer Yao Yiming.
Zulkarnain said the anti-coagulant usage in Malaysia has increased drastically from 2021 to 2022, and the usage has been extended to prevent severe complications of Covid-19 diseases during the pandemic.
“Anti-coagulant is widely used to prevent deep venous thrombosis, a condition of harmful blood clots formed in the blood vessels and is given as prophylaxis (treatment to prevent the disease) for planned surgery.
“According to the market forecast captured in IQVIA Data 2021 for anti-coagulant in Malaysian Market Report, a foundation in data specialised across the healthcare ecosystem, it shows that the market is expected to reach eight million dosage units by 2026,” he said, adding that the global market value is almost US$5 billion.
He said that currently, the anti-coagulant available in the market is non-halal as it is porcine-based or derived from the pig’s intestine.
He added that although the use of anti-coagulant is high globally due to routine procedures in most surgeries, an equal number of doses are used among the population in most developed countries.
“However, the usage of anti-coagulant has been relatively low in Muslim nations due to the porcine source and is less accepted as a preventive therapy.
“Thus, we also target to penetrate the international market particularly in the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) countries,” he said.
Zulkarnain said Pharmaniaga will submit collating documents to the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA) for its approval soon.
“We shall also submit an application for halal certification to the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (JAKIM) for this anti-coagulant product,” he said, adding that the ovine anti-coagulant is already certified halal in Indonesia and Hong Kong.
The fill and finish manufacturing of ovine anti-coagulant will be done at Pharmaniaga’s high-tech European Union-certified plant Pharmaniaga LifeScience Sdn Bhd (PLS). - Bernama
Source: The Sun Daily
