'Commercially not viable'

Continued losses in recent years have forced GlaxoSmithKline to close its medicine manufacturing unit in Bangladesh after over six decades of operation.

Chairman of GSK Bangladesh M Azizul Huq yesterday said the company could not produce the drugs, which are in demand in Bangladesh, due to patent laws.

“It's a very tough but necessary decision, as we have been incurring losses for several years,” he told a press conference at the Westin Dhaka hotel.

Nakibur Rahman, managing director of GSK Bangladesh, said the company took the decision in a board meeting held in the capital on Thursday.

The London-based pharmaceutical giant has been running a review programme for the last few months to address the losses, he said.

“On the basis of the review, our board proposed to shut down the commercially unsustainable pharmaceuticals unit.”

The company expects the winding-up process to complete by the end of 2018.

The company will, however, continue to run its consumer healthcare business in Bangladesh.

Around 70 percent of its turnover comes from consumer healthcare products while the pharmaceuticals unit has continued to incur losses, Azizul Huq said.

He hoped that GSK Bangladesh's profits would soar after the closure.

The company will provide financial and psychological support to the 1,000 people who will become unemployed due to the closure, he promised.

The company will also arrange a job fair to help the employees find work, he added.

Each share of the company was traded between Tk 1,205.90 and 1,286.70 on Thursday.