Vietnamese, French firms partner in vaccine production

Nguyễn Thị Kim Tiến, former Vietnamese Minister of Health and Honorary President of the Việt Nam - France Friendship and Cooperation Association (AAVF) and the Vietnamese delegation work with leaders of Sanofi on manufacturing essential vaccines. VNA/VNS Photo Ngọc Hiệp

PARIS — The Việt Nam Vaccine Joint Stock Company (VNVC) and Sanofi on Tuesday signed a document guiding the cooperation in manufacturing some vaccines of the French pharmaceutical group in the Southeast Asian country.

Accordingly, Sanofi will broadly share its knowledge and expertise on biotechnology with the Vietnamese partner to create conditions for gradually manufacturing essential vaccines at the VNVC factory in Việt Nam.

This important partnership will not only facilitate Vietnamese people’s access to vaccines but also help ensure stable vaccine supply and reduce many expenses.

Addressing the signing ceremony in Paris, general director of Sanofi-Aventis Việt Nam Burak Pekmezci said Sanofi is one of the world’s leading vaccine producers, with over half a billion people around the globe using its products each year. In Việt Nam, it supplied more than 7 million high-quality vaccine doses in 2023.

With its vaccine production experiences, Sanofi wishes to share its knowledge and contribute to the development of the health sector as well as the improvement of community health in Việt Nam, he said.

Ngô Chí Dũng, Chairman and CEO of the VNVC, said his company is about to build a vaccine and biologicals factory using cutting-edge technology and complying with the EU Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standards in Long An Province. It prioritises cooperation with Sanofi and other pharmaceutical firms so as to manufacture important vaccines and drugs, helping ensure sufficient supply for Việt Nam.

He expressed his hope that the partnership between Việt Nam’s leading vaccination system and the world’s leading pharmaceutical group will assist with improving the Southeast Asian country’s capacity of producing high-quality vaccines. It matches the VNVC’s mission of ensuring sufficient supply of important vaccines and delivering high-quality, accessible, and affordable vaccination services to all Vietnamese people.

Under its plan, the VNVC will negotiate to gradually engage in manufacturing and receive technologies for producing some vaccines transferred by Sanofi.

Speaking to the Vietnam News Agency, Nguyễn Thị Kim Tiến, former Vietnamese Minister of Health and Honorary President of the Việt Nam - France Friendship and Cooperation Association (AAVF), described this as a memorable event in the field of vaccine production of Việt Nam. It reflects efforts by the country’s science sector and enterprises in mastering advanced technologies and techniques for vaccine research and manufacturing, helping the country guarantee vaccine self-sufficiency in the future.

Meanwhile, Vietnamese Ambassador to France Đinh Toàn Thắng described the partnership between VNVC and Sanofi as a continuation of the two countries’ traditional cooperation in health care and pharmaceuticals, adding that he hopes the health and pharmaceutical collaboration will become more effective as it comes in line with the consensus reached by Vietnamese and French leaders during the freshly concluded visit to France by Party General Secretary and State President Tô Lâm. — VNS