The pharmaceutical industry should source more of its raw materials locally and reduce its dependence on imports, according to the Drug Administration of Vietnam.
Vietnamese pharmaceutical companies are now meeting 50 per cent of market demand, but 90 per cent of raw materials must be imported.
Experts said local pharmaceutical sources were plentiful, but had not yet been exploited.
Pham Thi Viet Nga, head of Hau Giang Pharmaceutical Joint-Stock Co, said the company had bought materials from several provinces including Tay Ninh Province and Da Lat.
She said that many local pharmaceutical products were considered to be of high quality and popular with patients.
Experts said a zone should be set aside to grow raw materials, and that drug manufacturers should work together to perfect technical criteria for locally made drugs.
Drugs that could be made here should not be imported, they said, adding that advertising should be improved.
Truong Quoc Cuong, head of Drug Administration of Vietnam, said the industry, with more than 300 drug manufacturers, could develop but that investment was still low and local manufacturers’ equipment and laboratories as well as research activities still did not match those of foreign companies.
Currently, the Ministry of Health is improving its management of the drug industry, from the quality of input materials to the selling of drugs to patients.
To improve quality, the ministry has asked all drugstores and manufacturers to reach Good Pharmacy Practices standards. Around 100 manufacturers and drugstores now meet the standards.
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