Correspondence: Kah Hay Yuen, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Penang, Malaysia. E-mail: khyuen@usm.my

¹is an academic staff member of the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia.

²is an academic staff member of the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia.

³is an academic staff member of the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia.

⁴is a research manager of Hovid Bhd, Malaysia, a local pharmaceutical manufacturing company.

⁵is a research manager of Hovid Bhd, Malaysia, a local pharmaceutical manufacturing company.

⁶is the managing director of Hovid Bhd, Malaysia, a local pharmaceutical manufacturing company.

Received 23 March 2009; Revised 23 March 2009.

Abstract

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.