#HEALTH: Ensuring medicine access and security

PHARMANIAGA Berhad's work to develop local capability for the PCV13 pneumococcal vaccine, through technology transfer and collaboration with its partners, is one example of how it hopes to bring innovation closer to home while gradually building the knowledge and capabilities that can contribute to Malaysia's medicine security.

Speaking during the recent PharmaView Expert Series 2026–Inaugural Edition forum "The Future of Medicines : Enhancing Critical Medicines For National Health Security", Pharmaniaga Berhad managing director Datuk Zulkifli Jafar says at the moment, 100 per cent of vaccines used in Malaysia are imported.

It's important for vaccines to be developed and manufactured locally, especially those used in the National Immunisation Programme, he adds.

Pharmaniaga is currently aiming to manufacture nine of the vaccines under the National Immunisation Programme.

Among these would be the polio and Tdap vaccines as well as the HPV vaccine.

The first locally manufactured vaccine to be launched next year will be the PCV13 pneumococcal vaccine (between Q3-Q4 of 2027) while two more vaccines, the HPV vaccine and the EV71 vaccine for Hand Foot and Mouth Disease are expected to be launched in 2028. The locally produced hexavalent vaccine, meanwhile, is targeted for release in 2029.

Localisation will ensure both a reduction in cost and better vaccine access for all Malaysians.

[[nid:1561108]]

Medicine access and medicine security were the key issues discussed at the forum organised by Pharmaniaga.

Pharmaniaga board member and Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera (LTAT) chief executive Datuk Mohammad Ashraf Md Radzi, says for many years, the global conversation around medicines was largely centred on access.

The focus was on whether patients could obtain the medicines they needed, whether those medicines were affordable, and how healthcare systems could continue providing them sustainably.

Those questions remain fundamental, he says, but they must now be considered against a more uncertain global geopolitical and geoeconomic landscape.

Strategic competition between major powers, conflict and the risk of disruption to trade routes have made the reliability of essential supplies a concern that extends well beyond the healthcare sector.

For medicines, this raises questions across the entire supply chain: the availability of active pharmaceutical ingredients, the resilience of manufacturing, and the continuity of transport and distribution.

"A finished medicine may be manufactured locally and still depend on inputs sourced from overseas. Understanding these dependencies is essential if we are to prepare for disruption before it reaches the patient." This is further amplified for fully imported medicines.

Mohammad Ashraf adds that the Covid-19 pandemic brought these vulnerabilities into very sharp focus, particularly when countries around the world found themselves competing for vaccines, medicines and other essential health products.

The pandemic reinforced an enduring lesson for healthcare policy: access to medicines cannot depend solely on our ability to purchase them.

"We must also consider where they are made, where their ingredients come from, and how reliably they can reach our hospitals, clinics and patients," he says.

For Malaysia, this is an important consideration because we remain closely connected to the global pharmaceutical supply chain.

In 2025, Malaysia imported approximately USD2.7 billion worth of pharmaceutical products, equivalent to around MYR11 billion.

At the same time, an estimated 39 per cent of medicines on Malaysia's National Essential Medicines List are not produced locally, highlighting our continued reliance on international supply chains.

This also underscores the importance of strengthening domestic pharmaceutical capabilities in areas that are strategically important to our healthcare needs, he explains.

Strategic localisation does not mean manufacturing every medicine domestically, he added. It means identifying where Malaysia can develop competitive and sustainable capabilities, while remaining integrated with global pharmaceutical supply chains.

"We should therefore assess localisation alongside diversified sourcing, stronger visibility of supply-chain risks and appropriate contingency arrangements for critical medicines."

The objective is to avoid having essential treatment being put at risk by commercial priorities of any supplier.

[[nid:1561107]]

GETTING IT RIGHT

Getting the right balance will strengthen our healthcare resilience while creating opportunities for investment, technological advancement and skilled employment.

Medicine security means developing a resilient system that ensures the right medicines, for the right patients, at the right time - today and tomorrow, says Health Ministry Deputy Director-General of Health (Medical) Datuk Dr Mohd Azman Yacob.

The ultimate measure of medicine security includes having resilient supply chains, strategic stockpiles (especially with regards to critical medicines), stronger and diversified local production of medicines and clear strategies and effective regulations in place.

The value of this will be realised when every Malaysian who needs treatment can access the medicine they need - when they need it.