Conglomerate Vingroup has announced its entry into the pharmaceutical industry with its Vinfa brand.
Along with pharmaceutical research, manufacturing, trading and export-import tasks, Vinfa will focus on the preservation, research and development of traditional Oriental medicines with origins in Vietnamese herbs.
Following the success of the Vinmec Medical System and realising the expansion plan in the healthcare sector, Vingroup has established Vinfa Joint Stock Company in the pharmaceutical business, along with an investment to build Vinfa Drug Research and Production Centre in Gia Bình District, Bắc Ninh Province. With a total investment of VNĐ2.2 trillion (US$97.7 million), the project’s first phase will be built in an area of nearly 10ha following international standards, including research, production, logistics and support works, according to Phan Thu Hương, chairman of the Vinfa’s Board of Directors.
With investment from Vingroup, the entire production process at Vinfa will be equipped with the latest and advanced technologies to optimise the efficiency and quality of pharmaceutical products.
The objective of the Vinfa Drug Research and Production Centre is to produce and sell good-quality Oriental and Western medicines to serve the domestic and export markets.
Vinfa will also focus on the production of health food, vaccines and medical equipment of international standards to better meet the high demand for healthcare and treatment of people.
In addition to exploiting the country’s precious herbal resources, Vinfa plans to promote co-operation with prestigious pharmaceutical production industries from the United States, Europe and Australia. The aim is to receive consultancy, technology and technical expertise as well as facilitate the import of raw materials and products.
The group says the operation and quality-control process at Vinfa will have three core criteria: best-quality products, highly skilled and dedicated staff and striving towards professionalism.
“The investment in the pharmaceutical production plant is considered a new step forward for Vingroup’s strategy of expansion in the healthcare sector to realise the mission of ‘Better Life for the Vietnamese’. Through Vinfa, we want to research, produce, import and export the best-quality products while preserving and developing precious medicinal herbs and traditional medicines of the country,” said Hương.
Construction of the drug research centre is scheduled to begin in the third quarter of 2018.
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According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), more than 80 per cent of the world’s population use traditional medicine, especially herbal products, including developed countries. In Việt Nam, medicines from local herbal plants account for at least 30 per cent. The country has nearly 4,000 of more than 12,000 flora species, many of which are considered rare, such as Ngọc Linh ginseng, Vũ Diệp ginseng, Hoàng Liên Sơn Panax pseudoginseng.
However, despite its abundant source of medicinal herbs, Việt Nam is still in the group of 17 countries that have a developing pharmaceutical industry (pharmerging countries), with nearly 55 per cent of the country’s drug demand being met by imports. Việt Nam especially has to import large quantities of specific drugs that are patented and costly.
In 2016 alone, Việt Nam imported some US$2.5 billion worth of pharmaceutical products, with nearly $200 million worth being imported from France, Germany and the United States.
(According to a report of the Vietnam Industry Research and Consultancy Joint Stock Company).
- Vietnamnews