Malaysia's Duopharma Biotech Sees Huge Potential For Halal Segment

From Karina Imran MELBOURNE, Sept 2 (Bernama) -- The halal segment has a huge potential to grow as the Muslim population globally is more than one-third of the global population, Duopharma Biotech Bhd said. The Malaysian pharmaceutical company said the global halal pharmaceuticals market is projected to reach US$174.59 billion (US$1 = RM4.48) by 2025 driven by strong support from Islamic demography and a significant increase in Muslim consumer spending to propel the market. “I think for the longer term, the wellness or the supplements market will improve and if you want to access that market, especially in Malaysia, you have to look at halal-certified products,” group managing director Leonard Ariff Abdul Shatar told Bernama at the World Halal Business Conference Circuit 2022 (WHBCC) in Australia. He said Duopharma Biotech’s products are 98 per cent halal-certified apart from products undergoing re-registration or newly introduced products awaiting certification. Leonard Ariff said Duopharma Biotech is also working with various Australian companies to bring their products into the Malaysian market. “So, quite apart from participating in the WHBCC session, I’ve also got meetings with some other Australian companies to look at the range of products that they have that may have potential in Malaysia. “One of the companies that we recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with was a company called Kensana Health Inc, a phytopharmaceuticals biotech company based in Melbourne,” he said. Meanwhile, Leonard Ariff said Malaysia needed to take a more professional and scientific approach to see the benefits offered by cannabinoid-based pharmaceuticals. “It does have certain therapeutic benefits. I believe we shouldn’t use such a broad-brush approach to demonise cannabinoid-based pharmaceuticals just because it is cannabis-derived,” he said. Malaysian Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin recently said that the government would take a stand on the use of cannabis for medical purposes before the end of the year. -- BERNAMA