The biopharmaceutical company is producing tirzepatide - marketed globally by Eli Lilly as Zepbound - at a factory built with its IPO proceeds
BF Biosciences Ltd has begun local manufacturing of tirzepatide, bringing one of the world's most sought-after metabolic drugs into production on Pakistani soil. In a material disclosure to the Pakistan Stock Exchange, the company said it has launched Zeptide (tirzepatide) in an easy-to-use pre-filled syringe, produced at its new European-specification pre-filled syringes facility. The company added that developing Zeptide was included in the utilisation plan for its initial public offering (IPO) proceeds, signalling that funds raised from public investors are now translating into tangible capacity and product roll-out.
Tirzepatide - an injectable therapy that acts as a dual agonist of the GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1) and GIP (glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide) receptors - is approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treating type-2 diabetes and obesity. The formulation is being released in patient-friendly, pre-filled syringes, a format the company says reduces dosing errors. Independent testing of Zeptide's quality and potency has been conducted at leading mass spectrometry facilities in the US and at a national university in Pakistan, according to the filing.
While Eli Lilly markets tirzepatide globally under the brands Mounjaro (for type-2 diabetes) and Zepbound (for obesity), BF Biosciences is introducing the molecule locally as Zeptide. The company did not disclose a branded-product licensing arrangement with Lilly in its filing; instead, it framed Zeptide simply as locally manufactured tirzepatide developed as part of its IPO investment plan, leaving the provenance of its intellectual property undisclosed.
The start of tirzepatide manufacturing is a notable first for Pakistan's life-sciences sector. GLP-1-based medicines - and now dual GLP-1/GIP agonists - are reshaping standards of care in diabetes and obesity worldwide. By commissioning a pre-filled syringe line and launching Zeptide, BF Biosciences is positioning itself at the leading edge of this therapeutic wave.
In its PSX notice, the company said Zeptide is produced at a newly commissioned European pre-filled syringes facility, and the product's development featured in the IPO proceeds utilisation detailed in its prospectus. This indicates that capital raised in late 2024 has been deployed into high-value, high-complexity sterile fill-finish infrastructure rather than only into working capital or incremental upgrades.
Market watchers had anticipated such a move from BFBIO since its listing. Reporting at the time of the announcement captured the company's intent to leverage the new plant to address critical unmet needs in metabolic disease, with local media noting the commercial launch of Zeptide and the company's confidence that it would support growth.
From Ferozsons subsidiary to listed biotech
BF Biosciences is best understood as the biopharmaceutical manufacturing arm born out of Ferozsons Laboratories Ltd, one of Pakistan's best-known pharmaceutical groups. Established in 2006, BF Biosciences began life as a joint venture between Ferozsons (then 80%) and Argentina's Bagó Group (20%), with a remit to build Pakistan's first biotech formulation plant. Over the past decade and a half it has specialised in complex products - including oncology and hepatology - and has increasingly invested in sterile and pre-filled syringe capacity.
The company listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange in October 2024 after a well-received IPO. The prospectus set a floor price of Rs55 per share, which the company easily exceeded with a final strike price of Rs77 per share, raising Rs1.93 billion in the offering. The post-IPO shareholding is Ferozsons (about 57.4%) and Bagó (about 14.3%), with the free float held by public investors - establishing BF Biosciences as a publicly traded, Ferozsons-anchored platform for complex manufacturing.
PSX and financial-press coverage of the listing underscored BF Biosciences' role in catalysing biotech manufacturing in the country. A PSX gong ceremony press note described the company as a joint venture that has "spearheaded Pakistan's emergence in biotech manufacturing" - an ambition now extending into metabolic disease with Zeptide.
BF Biosciences' filing explicitly links Zeptide's development to the IPO utilisation plan, indicating that public capital is underwriting not only capacity but also the rapid localisation of globally validated therapies.
The rise of GLP-1s - and how tirzepatide stacks up against semaglutide
GLP-1 receptor agonists have become the most consequential class in metabolic medicine in a generation. Their use has expanded from glycaemic control to weight management and potential benefits across cardiometabolic endpoints. Within this class, tirzepatide (Lilly's Zepbound/Mounjaro) stands out because it is a dual agonist - binding both GLP-1 and GIP receptors - while semaglutide (Novo Nordisk's Wegovy/Ozempic) is a GLP-1-only agonist.
A landmark head-to-head, randomised trial (SURMOUNT-5) published in the New England Journal of Medicine compared tirzepatide with semaglutide in adults with obesity without diabetes. At maximal labelled doses over 72 weeks, tirzepatide produced greater mean weight loss and larger reductions in waist circumference than semaglutide, with broadly similar gastrointestinal side-effect profiles.
That said, the evidence base is nuanced and still evolving. An observational, real-world analysis presented in 2025 suggested that semaglutide (Wegovy) was associated with a larger relative reduction in major adverse cardiovascular events than tirzepatide among high-risk patients without diabetes - an outcome that, while not from a head-to-head randomised CV outcomes trial, may weigh on prescribing for certain patient groups. As always, differences in study design and populations caution against over-extrapolation, but such data underscore how GLP-1 competition will likely be decided on multiple dimensions: weight loss, glycaemic control, cardiovascular protection, tolerability, access and price.
From a supply and market-access standpoint, the GLP-1 surge has strained global manufacturing. In late 2024, the U.S. FDA declared that shortages of tirzepatide products had been resolved, instructing compounders to wind down non-originator supply. Lilly subsequently said it was ramping production and easing start-dose constraints. These developments matter for Pakistan because local manufacturing can buffer against global bottlenecks - especially if BF Biosciences' fill-finish capacity proves scalable and compliant with export-market standards over time.
Against that backdrop, BF Biosciences' move can be read as a deliberate attempt to place Pakistan at the centre of the GLP-1 supply chain locally, with an eye to regional opportunities once registrations and certifications are in place.
Pakistan's diabetes burden: the world's highest prevalence
If the commercial logic for Zeptide seems compelling, the public-health logic is overwhelming. Pakistan's diabetes burden is among the heaviest worldwide - and by some measures the heaviest of all.
The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) reports that Pakistan has the highest diabetes prevalence (ages 20-79) globally, with tens of millions living with the disease today and projections rising sharply to mid-century. The country also ranks near the top by absolute numbers of adults with diabetes - underscoring the scale of demand for safe, effective and accessible therapies.
Earlier IDF editions and Lancet commentary painted a similarly stark picture: around 33 million Pakistanis living with diabetes in 2021, millions undiagnosed, and a rapidly worsening disease burden. Local press, citing IDF's 10th edition, highlighted that roughly one in four adults - about 26.7% - were living with diabetes, placing Pakistan at or near the top of global prevalence rankings even then.
Whether the exact percentages vary by survey and definition, the combined picture is unambiguous: a population-level crisis in weight-related and glycaemic health.
What does this mean for the tirzepatide opportunity?
Millions are undiagnosed, and many of those diagnosed struggle with control and adherence. Long-acting injectables that improve glycaemic control and reduce weight can significantly affect downstream complications and costs if access barriers are addressed.
Pakistan's diabetes care has long leaned on oral agents and human insulin; the diffusion of GLP-1s has been constrained by price, availability and delivery formats. Local manufacturing of pre-filled syringes may modestly lower costs and improve convenience, supporting broader uptake.
Strategic implications for Pakistan's life-sciences ecosystem
By investing in European-standard pre-filled syringe lines, BF Biosciences is upgrading Pakistan's sterile-injectables ecosystem. The company has already been expanding capacity with Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) approvals for additional pre-filled, liquid and lyophilised lines - steps that align with a pipeline that now includes high-demand metabolic products.
Medium-term, Pakistan could convert metabolic-drug manufacturing into export earnings if plants meet international GMP and secure registrations in targeted markets. Precedent exists in oncology and hepatology products made locally; GLP-1/GIP therapies add a new vector where demand is global and rising. BF Biosciences' own communications around its IPO and listings pointed to ambitions beyond the domestic market, including certifications that enable exports.