Abstract
Vietnam' s pharmaceutical market remains chaotic and poorly regulated. This
report is ideal for executives wanting to understand the key drivers in the
pharmaceutical market and have access to a wealth of statistical data,
including five-year market projections. Included with the report are 3 free
quarterly updated outlook reports, enabling you to keep up to date with market
developments for a year.
Includes 3 quarterly updated outlook reports!
After years of poor regulation and IP protection, the Vietnamese government
has started to gain more control in the the administration of drugs in the
market, particularly in the area of price control. The MoH has recently
started a crackdown on firms that inflate the price of drugs without prior
permission from the Vietnam Drug Administration (VDA), a requirement under the
law that was passed in 2005. In 2007, the MoH has come down hard on 13
companies that raised the price of drugs without permission from the VDA, an
agency under the MoH, and issued a warning that such firms risk penalties such
as fines, or worse still, have their operating licences revoked.
IP laws are still poor, and the Vietnamese drug industry, which has little R&D
and makes mainly copycat drugs, supplies 40% of the market. The government is
keen to encourage the local industry to supply around 60% of the market,
therefore it is not in the best interests of the government to pursue IP laws
as aggressively as price control mechanisms. That said, the country' s
accession in WTO in 2007 and accordance with the TRIPS agreement has seen the
country make strides in the formulation of IP laws and protection, but
enforcement remains a problem.
The opening of the economy since the doi moi reforms of the mid-1980s has
created a demand for Western drugs which cannot be met by the local industry.
Imports, therefore, comprise a significant proportion of the market by value.
European suppliers dominate, with the French at the forefront, due to their
long historical ties with the region. US manufacturers have only been able to
directly supply Vietnam since the lifting of the US government trade boycott
in 1994.
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