Proposal to prioritize drug production in Vietnam

The information was announced by Deputy Minister of Health Do Xuan Tuyen at the workshop. Innovation – The medicine for the development of the medical industry organized by Investment Newspaper on September 25 in Hanoi. This is an opportunity for leaders, experts and representatives of pharmaceutical enterprises to share solutions to develop the Vietnamese pharmaceutical industry.

The total value of Vietnam’s pharmaceutical market is estimated to reach 7 billion USD by 2023, belonging to the group of countries with the fastest pharmaceutical value and pharmaceutical development speed in the world. According to the classification of the World Health Organization (WHO), Vietnam’s pharmaceutical industry is at level 3 (level with domestic pharmaceutical industry, producing generic drugs, exporting some pharmaceuticals).

The national strategy to 2030 sets the goal of developing Vietnam’s pharmaceutical industry on par with advanced countries in the region. At the same time, it aims to improve research capacity and apply available technology to produce original brand-name drugs and drugs with new, modern dosage forms.

“Vietnam aims to become a center for manufacturing/technology transfer of generic drugs in the ASEAN region, striving to develop the domestic pharmaceutical industry to level 4 according to WHO classification,” said the Deputy Minister.

According to the Deputy Minister, 2024 is a key year for the health sector with the review and amendment of important laws and regulations, aiming to shape the activities of the medical and pharmaceutical sector in the next decade, including the amended Law on Medical Examination and Treatment which has been passed, while the draft amended Law on Health Insurance and the draft amended Law on Pharmacy are being developed, expected to be submitted to the National Assembly at the session next October.

“These are three core laws aimed at comprehensively caring for and protecting people’s health, especially so that people can have early access to good, new and affordable medicines,” said the Deputy Minister.

This revised draft of the Pharmacy Law has five basic policies. Among them, priority is given to the development of the Vietnamese pharmaceutical and medicinal materials industry, with preferential policies on investment, land, taxes, etc. in this field. The draft also prioritizes the development of high technology, including patented drugs, biological drugs and bioequivalent drugs, vaccines, anti-cancer drugs, etc. If these drugs are invested in and transferred with technology in Vietnam, they will be given priority in granting circulation registration numbers and priority in the list of drugs to be issued, according to the Deputy Minister.

At the workshop, experts also recognized that in order to develop the Vietnamese pharmaceutical industry, the pharmaceutical industry needs to focus on attracting investment in pharmaceutical technology, improving product quality; producing raw materials; developing domestic medicinal resources; improving pharmaceutical research and testing capacity. Management agencies need to build a flexible enough legal corridor to support and promote the development and innovation of the research and business sectors.

Mr. Darrell Oh, Chairman of Pharma Group, believes that there are three important factors that Vietnam needs to focus on. Firstly, creating a more favorable environment for businesses to operate and invest through clear, predictable, and sustainable policies. This motivates companies to prioritize bringing the most advanced therapies to Vietnam sooner as well as being ready to invest long-term here.

Second, provide preferential policies to prioritize innovation and invention such as establishing research and development centers, encouraging investment in early stages of the research and product development process such as clinical research and improving production capacity. Finally, there needs to be an effective process for implementing the national strategy for developing the pharmaceutical industry.