Vietnam's pharma market set to expand at CAGR of 15% to 2020

The pharmaceutical market in Vietnam is set to increase in value by $5 billion over the next six years, reaching a net worth of $8 billion by 2020 and representing an impressive compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.4%.

According to the latest report from research and consulting firm GlobalData, the scarcity of low-priced generic drugs, combined with a belief among Vietnamese doctors that patent-protected branded drugs are more effective, means that foreign pharmaceutical companies dominate the market and are able to maintain premium revenue.

In 2005, innovator drug prices in Vietnam were 8.3 times higher than international reference prices. Although 2009 saw the Vietnamese government introduce the New Health Insurance Law for universal coverage by 2020, as well as make it a legal requirement for all of its pharmaceutical production facilities to operate with Good Manufacturing Practice certificates, prospects for generic and locally-manufactured drugs remain limited.