Pharmaceuticals

The overall goal of the programme is to build the domestic pharmaceutical industry at a high level of development, reaching level 4 according to the World Health Organisation classification scale, with market value in the top three of ASEAN, contributing to ensuring adequate and timely supply of quality, safe, effective and affordable drugs.

In addition to that is the goal to develop pharmaceutical materials and products from domestic sources into a field of high quality and high value commodity productionwhich is competitive in both domestic and international markets.

The use of domestically produced pharmaceuticals is expected to reach 75% by 2025. Eight regions for the sustainable exploitation of natural medicinal herbs are planned to be established.

Vietnam strives to become a centre for high-value pharmaceutical production in the region by 2030, with the export value of domestically produced drugs at about US$1 billion.

The main tasks and solutions within the programme include institutional and legal institutions; investment and competitiveness improvement; science-technology, human resources and training; control of pharmaceutical market; international cooperation and integration; and information and communications, among others.

In recent years, the pharmaceutical industry has been an important area of cooperation between Vietnam and India. Pharmaceuticals and pharmaceutical ingredients have always been the key export items of India to Vietnam. The two sides still have great potential to promote investment cooperation in the pharmaceutical and medical equipment industries.

The topic was on discussion at a seminar on promotion of trade and investment in pharmaceutical sector between Vietnam and India, hosted by the Embassy of India in collaboration with the International Investment Promotion Alliance (INVEST-GLOBAL), Vietnam Association of Foreign Invested Enterprise (VAFIE) and Indian Business Chamber (INCHAM) in Hanoi on January 21.

The Vietnamese pharmaceutical market has grown rapidly, with an estimated value of US$7 billion in 2019. The annual growth is expected to be 8% by 2024. While Vietnamese drug manufacturers are able to meet half of their domestic demand, they depend on imports for approximately 60% of pharmaceutical end products, 90% of active pharmaceutical ingredients and most of the raw materials for the production of pharmaceuticals.

Pranay Verma, Ambassador of India to Vietnam, shared that Vietnam is a key consumer of Indian pharmaceuticals with an annual trade worth US$ 225 million, currently in 19th position among the top 25 destinations for Indian pharmaceutical products.

Emphasising the importance of the pharmaceutical sector in economic, commercial and medical cooperation between both sides, the diplomats also said that the opportunities presented by the pharma sector for the two countries has been duly recognised in the India-Vietnam Joint Vision for Peace, Prosperity and People adopted by both Prime Ministers at the Virtual Summit held in December 2020. Their Joint Vision identifies deepening the cooperation between the two countries in targeted areas, including holistic healthcare, vaccines and pharmaceuticals, as important elements of our future partnership over the coming years.

Amid the difficulties caused by COVID-19, the two countries remained engaged in augmenting healthcare responses to the pandemic. Vietnam assisted India with supplies of facemasks to the Indian Red Cross Society. India, on the other hand, ensured that the production and supply lines remained and ramped up, supplying medicines to manage the pandemic in more than 150 countries around the world, including Vietnam. India also extended a contribution of US$1 million to the ASEAN Covid-19 Response Fund.

Professor, Dr. Nguyen Mai, Chairman of the VAFIE, said that trade and investment in pharmaceuticals, which are among the strengths of both countries, can be further promoted through cooperation to support both sides, bringing into play the advantages of each party and effectively exploiting the potential to increase the two-way trade turnover and investment cooperation.

The seminar explored the emerging opportunities and exchanged views and ideas on ways to promote bilateral engagement in the pharma sector by taking advantage of policies and incentives offered in India and Vietnam.

Panel discussions on opportunities for investment and trade facilitation for Indian pharma sector in Vietnam were held, during which the participants stressed the need for greater Indian investment in pharma sector in Vietnam as well as enhancing awareness in Vietnam about India’s strength as the leading manufacturer of pharmaceuticals.

Representatives from Vietnamese Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Health provided details of incentives offered by Vietnam for investment in the health sector, particularly in hi-tech projects, as well as upcoming new circulars that would further facilitate trade in pharmaceutical products for Vietnam.

He is one of 560 volunteers in the trials that began on February 26.

After receiving the first shot of the vaccine produced by the Nanogen Pharmaceutical Biotechnology JSC, Tac had said he felt “normal and had no side effects.”

“My blood test results after injection showed that the antibody concentration was very high,” he told VnExpress .

“I decided to [volunteer] because I have great confidence in the country’s scientists.”

As a rule, personal information about volunteers taking part in drug human trials is kept confidential unless they agree otherwise, he said, adding therefore he could cannot reveal whether Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, head of the coronavirus task force, has also got a Nanocovax shot.

The deputy PM was with him when he received the first shot.

Nguyen Ngo Quang, deputy head of the Administration of Science, Technology and Training, said the vaccine has succeeded in creating large amounts of antibodies in volunteers and has proven effective against mutant strains too.

The second phase would allow researchers to see how exactly immunogenic Nanocovax is. Volunteers in the second phase could include people aged 65 and above and those with non-severe underlying conditions like hypertension and diabetes, according to the National Research Ethics Committee.

The vaccine is expected to enter its third phase of human trials in May and complete it by the end of the third quarter, three months earlier than scheduled.

Tac said Nanocovax is expected to be granted permission for production in the third quarter.

The development of Vietnamese-made COVID-19 vaccines is progressing well

Four Vietnamese pharmaceuticals have been racing to produce COVID-19 vaccines since last year, with three already showing promising results in pre-clinical and clinical trials.

The vaccines are being researched by Company for Vaccine and Biological Production No.1 (Vabiotech), the Centre for Research and Production of Vaccines and Biologicals (Polyvac), the Institute of Vaccines and Medical Biologicals (IVAC), and Nanogen Pharmaceutical Biotechnology JSC (Nanogen).

Vabiotech, IVAC, and Nanogen have all shown promising results.

To date, Vietnam has developed two potential vaccines. Of these, Nano Covax by Nanogen has entered the second phase of human trials conducted at Vietnam Military Medical University and the medical centre of Ben Luc district on February 26. The trial focuses on evaluating antibody discovered in the first phase and searching for other antibodies against the new SARS-CoV-2 variants in the UK and South Africa. By May, the results will be sent to the National Ethics Committee in Biomedical Research of the Ministry of Health.

Meanwhile, Covivac by IVAC has officially entered into the first phase of human trials in March-October this year after successful pre-clinical studies on animals. Nguyen Ngo Quang, deputy director of the Ministry of Health’s Department of Science, Technology and Training, said that if the trial produces good results, the second phase will be implemented with a larger sample size.

Besides, the Covid-19 vaccine by Vabiotech is expected to begin human trials next month. According to chairman of Vabiotech Do Tuan Dat, this vaccine could be modified quickly to combat new coronavirus variants if successfully developed.

Expectations of bringing the “Made in Vietnam” vaccines to the international market are fully grounded as the nation is one of the 40 countries running COVID-19 vaccine trials as well as the 38 nations whose vaccine management agencies fulfil the World Health Organization’s standards for a fully-equipped national regulatory system, creating opportunities to partner up with overseas partners especially in exporting vaccines.

According to the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Vietnam does not aim to be a leader in vaccine production but will inherit the world’s experiences in dealing with the new SARS-CoV-2 and focus on standard cold storage. Many existing vaccines, including Pfizer-BioNTech from Germany and Moderna from the US, need to be preserved and transported at temperatures between -80 and -20 degrees Celsius. This can affect delivery schedules due to the lack of specialised equipment. Meanwhile, Vietnamese vaccines can be stored at a normal refrigerator temperature of 2-8 degrees Celsius, according to Vietnam Military Medical University.

The Vietnamese vaccines could also help alleviate the supply-demand issues surrounding COVID-19 vaccines. According to the Economist Intelligence Unit, 84 of the world’s poorest countries will not have enough COVID-19 vaccines to inoculate their populations until 2023.

Not even developed countries can guarantee that all of their populations will be fully vaccinated by the end of 2021, despite successfully producing vaccines, with Russia falling a year and a half behind its initial vaccination schedule, based on statistics released by Moscow.

Despite reports of side effects, foreign covid vaccines are proving effective and continue to be improved. According to ABC News published on March 25, 2021, researchers examined data from the employee health record system at the University of California, San Diego and University of California, Los Angeles showed that of the 36,659 workers in California vaccinated, 379 tested positive, mostly within two weeks after their first shot. 37 people tested positive almost less than a week after their second dose. Only seven health workers tested positive 15 days or more after their second vaccination.

Medical experts emphasise that vaccinated people may still be positive as the vaccine is not 100 per cent effective.

By Thuy Ngoc Ngan