A sound generic pharmaceutical industry is vital for any country in order to increase the access and affordability of pharmaceuticals to the society at large. In this context, the generic pharmaceutical industry in Malaysia is seen as one of the potential manufacturing sectors that contributes not only to the well-being of the population but also in terms of economic output to the nation. However, the viability of the generic pharmaceutical industry in Malaysia is not free from challenges. In this paper, an overview of the Malaysian pharmaceutical industry together with the opportunities and challenges facing the generic market will be discussed.
SimoensS. (2007) International comparison of generic medicine pricesCurrent Medical Research and Opinion23(11): 2647–2654.
2.
ShafieA. A.HassaliM. A. (2008) Price comparison between innovator and generic medicines sold by community pharmacists in the state of PenangJournal of Generic Medicines6(1): 35–42.
3.
PingC. C.BahariM. B.HassaliM. A. (2008) A pilot study on generic medicine substitution practices among community pharmacists in the state of Penang, MalaysiaPharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety17(1): 82–89.
4.
Department of Statistics. (2007) Malaysia Year Book of Statistics 2007. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Department of Statistics Malaysia.
5.
YuC. P.WhynesD. K.SachT. H. (2008) Equity in health care financing: The case of MalaysiaInternational Journal of Equity Health9(7): 1–15.
6.
TarnY. H. (2008) Health-care systems and pharmacoeconomic research in Asia-Pacific regionValue Health11(1): S137–S155.
GohA.FaridahA.RosminahM. D.HanahNour O.AiniNoor Z. (2007) Expenditure on Medicines in Malaysia: Estimates from Malaysian Statistics on Medicines 2005. 7th Ministery of Health-Academy of Medicine Malaysia Scientific Meeting.
9.
AzmiI. M.AlaviR. (2001) TRIPS, patents, technology transfer, foreign direct investment and the pharmaceutical industry in MalaysiaJournal of World Intellectual Property4(6): 947–976.
