Pharmaceutical Bio Association Expands Exchange with Vietnam... Targeting 10 Trillion Won Market

The Korea Pharmaceutical and Bio-Pharma Manufacturers Association announced on the 10th that the '2023 Vietnam Pharmaceutical Public-Private Delegation,' which includes the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, academia, and 10 domestic pharmaceutical and bio companies, visited Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, from the 5th to the 8th. The delegation embarked on the visit to strengthen business cooperation between the two countries.

On the 6th, at the Grand Plaza Hanoi Hotel in Hanoi, Vietnam, attendees of the "Korea-Vietnam Pharmaceutical Industry-Academia-Government Symposium," including Jang Byeong-won, Vice Chairman of the Korea Pharmaceutical and Bio-Pharma Manufacturers Association (fifth from the left in the front row), Kang Seok-yeon, Director of the Drug Safety Bureau at the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (sixth from the left in the front row), Do Xuan Tuyen, Vice Minister of Health (seventh from the left in the front row), and Le Van Truyen, Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Drug Registration at the Vietnam Ministry of Health (eighth from the left in the front row), are posing for a commemorative photo.
Photo by Korea Pharmaceutical and Bio-Pharma Manufacturers Association

According to Vietnam Industrial Research and Consulting (VIRAC), the size of the Vietnamese pharmaceutical market was estimated at $8.2 billion (approximately 10.66 trillion KRW) as of last year. The growth trend is also remarkable; according to SSI Research, it is expected to grow annually by 11%, driven by increased health awareness and the activation of investments by multinational pharmaceutical companies.

In particular, following President Yoon Suk-yeol's state visit to Vietnam, a plan was adopted to implement a comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries, which is expected to further expand cooperation, according to the association. The 10 companies participating in this delegation?GC Cell, HK Inno.N, Kwangdong Pharmaceutical, Medica Korea, Samil Pharmaceutical, Organoid Science, Yuhan Corporation, Chong Kun Dang, Hallim Pharmaceutical, and Huons?have either already entered the Vietnamese market or have interest in doing so, and plan to accelerate their local market entry through this dispatch.

On the 6th, the association hosted the 'Korea-Vietnam Pharmaceutical Industry-Academia-Government Symposium,' co-hosted by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and the Vietnam Drug Administration (DAV), to enhance mutual understanding of regulatory systems and explore opportunities to expand pharmaceutical business between the industries and academia of both countries. About 100 participants, including Vietnamese regulatory officials and representatives from the association, academia, and industry, attended the event, which was well received by the Korean pharmaceutical and bio industries that have entered or are preparing to enter the Vietnamese market, according to officials.

Additionally, on the 7th, the delegation moved to Ho Chi Minh City and visited Samil Pharmaceutical’s ophthalmic drug contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) plant, where a roundtable meeting was held with Ministry of Food and Drug Safety officials and companies operating in Vietnam to share experiences and discuss challenges. At the on-site meeting, companies already operating in Vietnam shared their experiences, lessons learned, and precautions encountered during factory establishment, product approval registration, and sales processes. They also requested the government and association to expand opportunities for exchanges with regulatory authorities and industries in emerging markets such as Vietnam.

Kang Seok-yeon, Director of the Drug Safety Bureau at the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, stated, "We expect that various difficulties in entering the Vietnamese market, including registration and approval issues faced by companies actually entering the market, will be somewhat resolved through the GPS project currently being promoted by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety." He added, "We will actively support resolving industry challenges through close cooperation between the two governments."

Jang Byung-won, Vice Chairman of the Korea Pharmaceutical and Bio-Pharma Manufacturers Association, said, "The Vietnamese pharmaceutical market is a promising market that can serve as a foothold for the ASEAN market," and "We highly welcome the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety’s efforts to actively communicate with the Vietnamese pharmaceutical authorities, as demonstrated in this symposium." He also pledged, "With the comprehensive strategic partnership for the next 30 years agreed upon during the President’s state visit, the association will do its utmost to serve as a bridge between the public and private sectors to expand the market entry of domestic pharmaceutical and bio companies through public-private cooperation."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.