ENTERPRISE OF THE YEAR

Square at new height

Jasim Uddin Khan

Samson H Chowdhury

Square means a geometric figure with four right angles and four equal sides. The vision of high ethical standard and quality of the medicines it manufactures has befitted its name across its lifeline.

The journey that began in 1958 was humble and slow but steady. Dedication, hard work, zeal and vigour to do something for people's welfare have led this journey to a level at what the pharmaceutical company is today.

The company, formed by a group of four like-minded persons in Pabna with an equal share of the Tk 80,000 capital more than 50 years ago, has now turned into such a big and reputed medicine maker whose annual turnover is not less than Tk 1,100 crore.

The secret of Square Pharma's success is what its founder chairman Samson H Chowdhury has put in words: “We tried to keep balance in maintaining ethics, product standard, share holders' rights, employees' interest, and above all, customers' affordability to uphold our name SQUARE.”

You believe it or not, the idea of manufacturing some life-saving drugs was conceived from a tiny dispensary at Ataikula in Pabna. Samson's father late Yakub Hossain Chowdhury was a medical practitioner having a strong financial backing. It is Samson who keenly observed that Malaria patients had to pay high price for India-made quinine whereas raw materials of such quinine are available at Keru Sugar Mills at Darshona in Iswardi district.

He ventured into a drugs-making business then, and he never had to look back. It is now evident that his march is ahead of others.

Square emerges as the number one pharmaceutical company -- in terms of sales and quality -- in the country, which grabs about 20 percent of the local medicine market. With exporting medicines worth Tk 39 crore last year, Square Pharma also set its position as the second largest medicine exporting company.

It is a long story behind the company's present status. A technical agreement in 1975 with Belgium's Janssen Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson International Ltd., had added a new dimension in Square's successes, the company's founder flashed back.

This technical cooperation helped Square maintain current good manufacturing practice for its products.

“Janssen came to provide its technical expertise for a local company. It inspected three other local companies but they were not satisfied. On its visit to our company, the Belgian firm picked Square for their collaboration,” Samson elaborated.

Following suggestions from Bovis Tanvec Ltd of the United Kingdom, setting-up of the state-of-art manufacturing plant at Kaliakoir in 1996 has reached Square to a new height. This plant, constructed with the help of as many as 150 Thai workers, is equivalent to any modern pharmaceutical plant in Europe.

Square management is now eying establishment of a sophisticated research and development centre to develop most bio equivalent generic products for Bangladeshi consumers.

Although the company started with a few liquid products, over the time it has diversified into medicines like tablets, capsules, powder for suspension, injectable products, dry powder inhaler, metered dosage inhaler, suppositories, cream ointment, eye and nasal drops, bolus and oral solution.

Square has a product portfolio of 554 items and more than 3,500 employees.

The domestic market success has prompted the company to explore the international market. In 1995, it stepped into global market by exporting medicines to Bhutan. Now Afghanistan, East Timor, Hong Kong, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Kenya are its export destinations.

As the company has secured MHRA licence from the UK, it is expected that export potentials will be tapped at an enhanced rate in near future.

Constant innovation is Square's another pillar of success. It has a qualified and experienced team of chemists and engineers.

Meanwhile, keeping up good corporate social responsibility practices has brightened the company image. Square plans to donate computers to the students of class VII and VIII.

The company's another achievement is its intial public offering in 1994.