KUALA LUMPUR (May 26): Pharmaniaga Bhd (KL:PHARMA) confirmed on Thursday that it has secured a three-year contract worth RM281.7 million to supply human insulin to government hospitals.
The Edge, citing sources, reported on April 1 that the pharmaceutical group had been awarded the contract, with the group expected to manufacture the product in-house at its Puchong facility, making it the first local company to produce human insulin in the country.
On Thursday, Pharmaniaga said the government had accepted the tender offer from its wholly-owned subsidiary, Pharmaniaga Lifescience Sdn Bhd, to supply human insulin under the Ministry of Health’s procurement. A formal agreement will be signed at a later date.
The group said the contract represents about 70% of its total tender volume, underscoring Pharmaniaga’s scale, operational readiness and capacity to support large-volume, nationwide supply requirements.
The deal also strengthens the group’s recurring revenue base within the public healthcare segment, while further enhancing visibility of earnings over the contract period, it added.
Managing director Datuk Dr Zulkifli Jafar said the award reflects Pharmaniaga’s strategic direction set under Vision ONE30, which focuses on advancing biopharmaceutical capabilities.
“This contract comes at a timely juncture, as ongoing geopolitical developments continue to highlight the importance of building a more resilient and self-reliant domestic pharmaceutical ecosystem. Strengthening local manufacturing capabilities, particularly for essential and chronic disease treatments such as insulin, will be critical in safeguarding national medicine security and ensuring sustainable access to treatment for the rakyat in the years ahead,” he said.
During a recent briefing, Zulkifli said the contract is expected to contribute about RM8 million in profit before tax this year and around RM17 million next year, excluding contributions from supplying human insulin to teaching and military hospitals.
According to him, Malaysia’s annual government requirement for human insulin is estimated at about 21 million cartridges.
Pharmaniaga would initially supply human insulin to the government through trading arrangements before progressively ramping up localised production at its manufacturing facility in Puchong.
The group is targeting an annual production capacity of 25 million insulin cartridges by early 2028 under a two-shift operation, with potential to scale up further to almost 40 million insulin cartridges under a three-shift operation.
Pharmaniaga's share price ended unchanged at 25 sen, giving the group a market capitalisation of RM1.64 billion.