RCS - Beximco Pharma. - Affordable treatment option for cystic fibrosis

Beximco PharmaceuticalsAnnouncement

24/10/2025 07:00

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RNS Number : 6479E  Beximco Pharmaceuticals Ltd  24 October 2025

REACH ANNOUNCEMENT

 

24 October 2025

 

BEXIMCO PHARMACEUTICALS LIMITED

 

Beximco Pharma notes announcement from partner on joint initiative to provide
affordable treatment option for cystic fibrosis

 

Beximco Pharmaceuticals Limited ("the Company"; AIM Symbol: BXP, LEI No.:
213800IMBBD6TIOQGB56), the fast-growing manufacturer of generic pharmaceutical
products and active pharmaceutical ingredients, notes the below announcement
that has today been released by Beximco's partner Just Treatment regarding a
joint initiative to provide an  affordable treatment option to Cystic
Fibrosis patients.

 

 

Life-saving breakthrough for cystic fibrosis patients worldwide as new
affordable generic treatment launches

 

Key points:

·      New generic version of lifesaving treatment undercuts current
list price by over $360,000

·      Buyers' club model seeks to facilitate action for patients dying
without access worldwide due to Vertex Pharmaceuticals' exorbitant pricing and
monopoly abuse

·      Press conference - Thursday 23 October 2025, 18:45-20:00 PT /
Friday 24 October 02:45-04:00 BST / 07:15-09:00 IST

 

A group of mums whose children are living with the genetic disease cystic
fibrosis (CF) today launched a community-run buyers' club to help patients
around the world access a new generic version of a lifesaving treatment for
the condition. Unveiling the news at the North American Cystic Fibrosis
Conference (NACFC) in Seattle, the families announced that the generic version
of Trikafta will be priced at just $6,375 per child, per year. This is a huge
reduction on the original, patented version, which has a U.S. list price of
$370,000, and offers hope to thousands of patients without
access.

That extremely high price tag has led to condemnation of the patent holder,
Vertex Pharmaceuticals, by campaigners and experts across the world, as it has
resulted in deep inequality in access to the treatment. Delayed diagnosis and
lack of treatment contribute to an average life expectancy
(https://docs.google.com/document/d/11NalbMvNGhnH_J1NWkaag8PVgZlVpPMIKy5VTFEknds/edit?tab=t.0)
of less than 20 years in CF patients in many parts of the world.

The combination therapy ETI (elexacaftor/tezacaftor/ivacaftor - branded as
Trikafta by Vertex) which is now listed as an essential medicine
(https://medicineslawandpolicy.org/2025/09/treatment-for-cystic-fibrosis-added-to-essential-medicines-list-by-the-world-health-organization-a-victory-for-campaigners-though-prices-still-toxic/)
by the WHO, has transformed the health and life expectancies of cystic
fibrosis patients able to access it; and generated tens of billions of dollars
in profits for Vertex
(https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/vertex-forecasts-upbeat-2025-revenue-cystic-fibrosis-treatments-demand-2025-02-10/)
.

Daniela, a CF mum from Ecuador said,

 

"My son, Juan Martín, was diagnosed as a baby, and since then I've fought
every day for his chance to live a full life. But in Ecuador, even basic
medicines are hard to find. As he's grown older, his health has declined. The
last two years have been filled with hospital visits, constant antibiotics,
and procedures to stop him coughing up blood.

 

He's eighteen now, he should be out with friends, dreaming about the future,
going to university. Instead, every plan he makes depends on what medicines we
can get. Until now, he has not been able to get the one medicine that could
transform his life - denied it by the greed of an American corporation. Now
the launch of the buyers' club with a much more affordable medicine means
finally, his life is not being held to ransom by Vertex Pharmaceuticals. Juan
Martin can at last start to make plans for his future."

 

Global access gap:
As of now, cystic fibrosis affects an estimated 188,336 people
(https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ppul.26954) globally, of
whom only 60% are diagnosed and just 27% receive treatment. Access remains
starkly unequal between developed and developing countries. Data is limited,
but a 2024 study (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ppul.26954)
estimated 82% of those undiagnosed live in low- and middle-income countries
(LMIC), and only one LMIC, against thirty-five high-income countries (HICs),
had reported patient reimbursement for Trikafta.

 

But now, a respected Bangladeshi generic drug manufacturer, Beximco
Pharmaceuticals, has confirmed its advanced plans to supply ETI at a price
that should make it an affordable and sustainable option for patients and
health systems across the world. Their product will enable 58 children to be
treated for the price of treating just one child with Vertex's version.

 

Known as Triko, it will be available for purchase and supply from Spring 2026.
Patients, families, clinicians, and health service employees can register
their interest using the CF Buyers' Club website.

Gayle Pledger works as a Senior Organiser for Just Treatment and leads the
global Right To Breathe campaign. She is a CF mum from the UK and announced
the launch of the Beximco generic at NACFC today:

 

"This is a historic moment - patients, families and allies have come together
to build the solution that the global CF community has been waiting for. We've
watched children suffer and die while a treatment sat on the shelf, priced out
of reach. Today, that changes, we've proven that patient power can change what
billion dollar corporations refuse to. Governments must act fast to take all
the necessary steps to make this lifesaving drug available for every eligible
patient."

 

Movement background:

Vertex Save us, a global grassroots campaign, has been fighting for access to
modulators for five years. Two and a half years ago, these families of CF
patients and their allies formed the Right to Breathe campaign. Led by the CF
community and supported by a coalition of groups and allies across the world
including Just Treatment, Third World Network, Brazilian Interdisciplinary
AIDS Association, Health Justice Initiative, HealthGAP, Medicines Law &
Policy, and others, has been working to overcome the monopoly to ensure every
eligible patient can access the treatment, pressing courts and governments
across the world to tackle the company's patent abuse.

 

This work has helped to win full or partial access for patients in Ukraine,
India, Brazil, South Africa, Lithuania, and other countries. But many
countries are still locked out with patients needlessly dying painful,
avoidable deaths.

 

The campaigners have now announced the launch of a new generic version of the
medicine, and the re-establishment of the cystic fibrosis buyers' club which
originally helped to break a deadlock in negotiations over access to Vertex's
modulator treatments in the UK in 2019. The new generic product is
significantly cheaper than alternatives, and makes access for many around the
world possible for the first time, including in South Africa, where Vertex
have been accused of deliberately undermining efforts to secure sustainable
access for all by launching an access programme that divides the CF community
by only benefiting those on the most expensive private medical insurance
plans.

Carmen, a CF mum from South Africa unable to access treatment for her child,
helped to relaunch the buyers' club in Seattle:

 

"Every parent of a child with CF knows what it feels like to hope for a
medicine that is completely out of reach. For years, that hope felt cruel.
With Triko, it actually feels real. It gives families like mine a chance to
breathe again - to believe that our kids might actually get to live full,
healthy lives. That's all any of us have ever wanted. Vertex's cruelty to my
child and thousands of others like him should stop now. They must step back,
drop their patent claims, and ensure they are not preventing patients
accessing these lifesaving medicines."

 

Triko will cost $12,750 for an adult per year and $6,375 for a child per year,
dramatically cheaper than the branded version of Trikafta sold at $370,000 by
U.S. company Vertex. Beximco is also separately launching Bexdeco, a generic
version of ivacaftor, one of the components of Triko, which costs $5 per
tablet.

Patients were the ones who first led Beximco to develop Triko three years ago.

 

"Seeing the medicines available in the rest of the world and not to us was an
added pressure. And India producing ingredients but Indians not having access
to the final product was demeaning and depressing," said Mallika Gollapudi,
mother to a 14-year-old child with cystic fibrosis, when she heard the news.
"We see a ray of hope now," she added.

 

Third World Network (TWN) worked closely with patient groups in India, where
access to cystic fibrosis diagnostics and treatment was virtually nonexistent.
Chetali Rao, a scientific researcher with TWN, explained:

 

"When a medicine costs more than life itself, it stops being an innovation, it
becomes an exclusion. Trikafta can transform a life-threatening disease like
cystic fibrosis into a manageable condition. It must be available and we were
determined to find a way to make it affordable."

 

This urgency drove TWN, together with patient groups Just Treatment
(http://justtreatment.org) in the UK and the global campaign Right to Breathe,
to approach Beximco with the proposal to develop an affordable generic
alternative. The Bangladeshi company has a strong track record of developing
and producing affordable medicines, and has secured multiple certificates of
Good Manufacturing Practice by stringent regulatory authorities.

 

Beximco Pharmaceuticals COO, Rabbur Reza, says,

 

"At Beximco Pharma, we strive to meet patients' unmet medical needs,
especially in therapy areas where there is limited access to affordable
products. A central tenet of our business philosophy is responding to the
evolving needs of patients to make a meaningful impact on the quality of their
lives. We understand that access to medicine for rare diseases, like CF, is
restricted due to a limited number of treatment options which are
prohibitively expensive. We believe our initiative will deliver a more
affordable generic version of Trikafta, which will have a transformative
impact on thousands of patients living with CF who are currently deprived of
treatment due to the significant cost burden."

 

Pathways to access:

Patients and advocates have been highly critical of Vertex's abusive patenting
strategies. This is precisely what makes the initiative alongside Beximco so
valuable. Based in Bangladesh, a Least Developed Country (LDC) exempt from
enforcing pharmaceutical patents under the WTO TRIPS Agreement, Beximco can
legally manufacture and export generic versions of patented medicines.

 

To enable access in other countries, the Right to Breathe
(https://www.righttobreathe.net/) campaign and its allies have filed
challenges against Vertex's patents in India and other countries, seeking to
dismantle unjustified barriers. They have also pushed with the South African
CF Association and Health Justice Initiative for the South African Competition
Commission
(https://www.righttobreathe.net/post/south-african-cf-families-call-on-the-competition-commission-to-re-open-vertex-investigation)
to properly investigate Vertex's monopoly abuse in the country.

 

Some of Vertex's patents over Trikafta have already expired or are near expiry
in multiple countries. However, in the last couple of years, Vertex has
applied for additional patents on modifications and different forms of these
existing compounds to prolong exclusive rights beyond the expiration of the
primary patent, a practice known as evergreening.

 

In a notable development, the Indian Patent Office refused Vertex's
application for a solid dispersion form of tezacaftor, one of the ingredients
of ETI, last May. The application was rejected under Section 3(d) of the
Indian Patents Act, which prohibits the patenting of new forms of known
substances unless they demonstrate enhanced efficacy.

 

Despite applying for multiple patents, on another front of its aggressive
monopoly strategy, Vertex has not registered Trikafta in India, South Africa
and a wide range of other global south countries in a tactic to delay generic
competition and extend its monopoly without any consideration for patients
suffering, since the lack of registration does not allow for the marketing of
the drug in the country.

 

Patients, with the support of TWN and Right to Breathe, have petitioned
(https://www.righttobreathe.net/post/press-release-cystic-fibrosis-patients-and-families-in-india-petition-court)
the Karnataka High Court seeking to make the drug available under a government
use license. The trial has not concluded. To mitigate damages, Vertex has
started compassionate use programs that might be supplying to around 150
patients in India, according to patient sources. Similarly, a court action to
break Vertex's patent monopoly in South Africa was ended when Vertex offered
an access arrangement that only benefits the half of the CF population
(https://www.righttobreathe.net/post/statement-on-the-withdrawal-of-sa-case)
with the means to pay for high end private health insurance, deliberately
excluding the most vulnerable patients and entrenching health inequalities.

 

Why this matters:

All of these acts and Beximco's announcement, triggered by patients and civil
society advocacy, represents a critical step towards an affordable alternative
and wider access, challenging the monopolistic practices that have long
restricted life-saving medicines and upholding the right to health.

 

Further information on how patients can access this product will be available
on cfbuyersclub.org (http://cfbuyersclub.org) from the time of the
announcement.

Key contacts:

·      Diarmaid McDonald - diarmaid@justtreatment.org
(mailto:diarmaid@justtreatment.org) - +447894455781

·      Rajnia Rodrigues - rajnia@twnetwork.org
(mailto:rajnia@twnetwork.org) - +5521971250691

 

 

For further information please visit www.beximcopharma.com
(http://www.beximcopharma.com/)  or enquire to:

 

 Beximco Pharma

 Rabbur Reza, Chief Operating Officer

 Tel: +880 2 58611001, Ext. 20111

 Mohammad Ali Nawaz, Chief Financial Officer

 Tel: +880 2 58611001, Ext. 20030

 SPARK Advisory Partners Limited (Nominated Adviser)

 Mark Brady / Andrew Emmott

 Tel: +44 (0)20 3368 3551 / 3555

 SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP (Broker)

 Matthew Johnson

 Tel: +44 (0) 20 3470 0470

 FTI Consulting

 Simon Conway / Sam Purewal

 Tel: +44 (0)20 3727 1000

Notes to Editors

 

About Beximco Pharmaceuticals Limited

Beximco Pharma is a leading manufacturer and exporter of medicines based in
Bangladesh. Since its inception in 1976, the Company remains committed to
health and wellbeing of people across all the continents by providing access
to contemporary medicines. Company's broad portfolio of generics encompasses
diverse delivery systems such as tablets, capsules, liquids, semi-solids,
intravenous fluids, metered dose inhalers, dry powder inhalers, sterile
ophthalmic drops, insulins, prefilled syringes, injectables, nebuliser
solutions, oral soluble films etc. The Company also undertakes contract
manufacturing for multinational and leading global generic pharmaceutical
companies.

 

Beximco Pharma′s state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities are certified by
global regulatory authorities of USA, Europe, Australia, Canada, GCC and Latin
America, among others and it has a geographic footprint in more than 50
countries. More than 6000 employees are driving the company towards achieving
its aspiration to be among the most admired companies in the region.

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