A medicine routinely given to Bangladeshi children with diarrhoea has become an exceptionally profitable product for its importer by being classified not as a drug, but as a food supplement, according to a whistleblower with direct knowledge of the company’s operations.

The claims, made by a current or former employee of Beximco Pharmaceuticals, shine a light on a corner of the country’s healthcare market that has largely escaped public scrutiny — even as it serves one of the most common illnesses affecting young children.

At the centre of the allegations is Enterogermina Oral Suspension, an Italian-made probiotic brought into Bangladesh by Synovia Pharma PLC, a company affiliated with Beximco. Rather than register the product as a pharmaceutical drug — which would subject it to price controls and stricter oversight — the company sells it as a food supplement, placing it in a far more loosely regulated category.

At the centre of the allegations is Enterogermina Oral Suspension, an Italian-made probiotic brought into Bangladesh by Synovia Pharma PLC, a company affiliated with Beximco. Rather than register the product as a pharmaceutical drug — which would subject it to price controls and stricter oversight — the company sells it as a food supplement, placing it in a far more loosely regulated category.

That classification, industry experts and the whistleblower say, has allowed prices to surge unchecked.

A 600% mark-up

Import records examined by the magazine Bangla Outlook, combined with material supplied by the whistleblower, suggest the declared import cost of Enterogermina is under $1 a pack. Customs paperwork is said to value a box of 10 vials at roughly 79 US cents — equivalent to a few taka per vial — yet the same pack retails in Bangladesh for 700 taka, or 70 taka per vial.

The whistleblower, formerly employed at Beximco Pharma, said the retail price had risen from about 500 to 700 taka in the space of two years, with no public explanation offered for the increase.

“Because the product is categorised as a food supplement and falls outside formal price-control mechanisms, the importer has been able to maintain margins exceeding 600%,” the whistleblower said.

Enterogermina, which contains spores of the bacterium Bacillus clausii, is widely prescribed by doctors for gastrointestinal complaints and is particularly popular for treating diarrhoea in children. Its position as one of the few liquid probiotics readily available for paediatric use in Bangladesh, critics say, has made it unusually lucrative.

Questions over import approvals

The allegations extend beyond pricing to the legality of the import process itself.

Bangladesh’s Drugs and Cosmetics Act 2023 requires importers of food supplements to submit a range of supporting documents, including free-sale certificates, certificates of analysis, manufacturing records and stability data. The whistleblower alleges that, for years, not all of this paperwork was provided.

More troubling, the source said, is the claim that Synovia continued importing the product on the strength of an authorisation granted in 2022 that was valid for only one year. Industry figures say no-objection certificates for pharmaceutical imports are typically valid for far shorter periods — often around six months — though terms can vary.

The whistleblower also pointed out that domestically produced alternatives to Enterogermina already exist in Bangladesh, arguing that policy generally calls for tighter scrutiny of imported finished products once local equivalents are available.

Customs suspicions

Perhaps the most damaging claim concerns customs valuation. The whistleblower said officials had questioned the declared invoice value as far back as 2022, suspecting the company of under-invoicing. The price recorded for each pack, they reportedly argued, was implausibly low.

According to the source, authorities raised the possibility that any gap between the declared and real value of the goods could have been settled outside formal banking channels — a practice that, if confirmed, would raise questions about compliance with Bangladesh’s foreign exchange rules.

Beximco Pharmaceuticals, Synovia Pharma and the Directorate General of Drug Administration did not respond to requests for comment.

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