Việt Nam aims to produce innovative medicines

A medicine warehouse at a hospital. VNA/VNS Illustrative image

HÀ NỘI – The Ministry of Health has proposed a policy to encourage the transfer of new and innovative drugs, aiming to create more opportunities for patients.

According to the ministry’s Drug Administration of Việt Nam (DAV), innovative drugs in Việt Nam account for only about 3 per cent of the total but represent up to 22 per cent of the value and are primarily imported. Only a few medicines have been researched and produced domestically, or have had initial technology transfer for production.

The main reason is that most domestic pharmaceutical production facilities are currently small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that have not prioritised investment in research, production, or the transfer of these drugs due to the substantial demand for financial resources, time, and high-quality human resources.

Investment in research and development also remains modest, focusing primarily on conventional drugs, not on research and production of modern pharmaceutical formulations, optimisation of formulas and production.

According to DAV General Director Vũ Tuấn Cương, Việt Nam encourages the production of generic drugs to ensure essential medicines, and that is why enterprises have not focused on researching and producing hi-tech drugs, new drugs, specifics, or innovative drugs.

He underlined the need to develop incentive mechanisms and policies to attract enterprises and investors, thus promoting investment in researching and developing new technologies for producing priority drugs as proposed in the draft amendment to the Pharmacy Law.

According to DAV, domestically produced drugs currently account for 70 per cent of the quantity used but only about 45-50 per cent in the value. The draft amendment to the Pharmacy Law has proposed regulations to encourage the production of innovative medicines and hi-tech dosage forms, rather than focusing on the production of generic drugs.

The authority reported that Việt Nam has 230 pharmaceutical factories that meet GMP-WHO standards, with 20 of them meeting GMP-EU standards. The World Health Organisation (WHO) classifies Việt Nam's pharmaceutical industry at Level 3, indicating its capability to produce generic drugs and partially self-sufficient in certain pharmaceutical products. In 2023-2024, the pharmaceutical market is hoped to reach US$6.5 - 7 billion, with imports accounting for $3.5 billion.

Under the national strategy for developing Việt Nam’s pharmaceutical industry to 2030, with a vision to 2045, the country aims to become a key hub for the manufacturing, processing, and technology transfer of brand-name drugs, particularly in Southeast Asia.

Additionally, the strategy seeks to elevate the domestic pharmaceutical industry to WHO Level 4, with its export value expected to reach $1 billion by 2030.

The strategy also targets domestic medicine production to meet about 80 per cent of the country’s demand, representing 70 per cent of the market value, and to produce 20 per cent of the raw materials needed for the domestic drug production. VNS