UK Pharmaceutical Supplier to Vietnam

Vietnam's pharmaceutical market was valued at approximately USD 7.2 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach USD 11 billion by 2028, making it one of the fastest-growing markets in Southeast Asia. The country's 100-million-plus population, rising middle class, and expanding health insurance coverage under Vietnam Social Security (VSS) are driving demand for higher-quality imported medicines, particularly in oncology, cardiology, and rare disease therapy.

The Vietnamese government's Pharma Strategy 2030, approved under Decision 376/QD-TTg, aims to increase domestic production capacity while maintaining quality standards aligned with PIC/S-GMP. However, for specialist medicines not manufactured domestically, particularly biologics, targeted cancer therapies, and orphan drugs, Vietnam remains dependent on imports from established pharmaceutical markets including the UK, EU, and Japan.

Vietnam operates a dual-track regulatory system for medicine imports. Registered medicines go through the Drug Administration of Vietnam (DAV) marketing authorisation process, which can take 12 to 18 months. For unregistered medicines needed urgently, the named patient import pathway under Circular 32/2018/TT-BYT allows hospitals to apply for individual import licences, this is the primary channel through which Euro Biom supplies UK-origin medicines to Vietnamese healthcare institutions.

Key therapeutic areas driving import demand from Vietnam include oncology (Vietnam has one of the highest cancer incidence rates in Southeast Asia, with approximately 182,000 new cases annually), hepatology (Vietnam has among the world's highest hepatitis B prevalence rates at approximately 8 percent of the population), and neurology. The country's National Cancer Control Programme and expanded NCD screening are further increasing demand for imported specialty medicines.