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“Revolutionizing Vietnam’s Pharmaceutical Landscape: The Industrial Park Advantage.”

12 May, 2025

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The pharmaceutical industrial park model with a billion-dollar goal

The National Strategy for the Development of Vietnam’s Pharmaceutical Industry by 2030 and Vision to 2045 aims to develop the pharmaceutical industry on par with advanced countries in the region. The goal by 2030 is to produce 80% of the drugs used and capture 70% of the market value, while transferring technology to produce at least 100 patented drugs; and achieving $1 billion in drug exports.

Imexpharm’s EU-GMP-certified high-tech antibiotic factory. Photo: Imexpharm.

In this strategy, the development of pharmaceutical industrial parks is considered a crucial foundation to realize the set goals. These industrial parks will not only create a closed ecosystem, attracting domestic and foreign businesses, but also play an important role in promoting technology transfer and the production of high-value drugs. At the same time, with modern infrastructure and advanced equipment, pharmaceutical industrial parks contribute to enhancing the quality and technological content of domestic drugs, opening up export opportunities to new markets.

Additionally, the pharmaceutical industrial park model optimizes investment, production, and logistics costs, thereby improving the price competitiveness of Vietnamese drugs. Furthermore, localities have the opportunity to form a unique pharmaceutical ecosystem, strengthen cooperation between enterprises, and create a driving force for sustainable socio-economic development.

Catching this trend, many localities have taken the initiative to transform. In March 2024, the Ho Chi Minh City government announced a pivotal decision to build a specialized Medical-Pharmaceutical Industrial Park in the Le Minh Xuan 2 Industrial Park, covering an area of 338 hectares. This is part of the plan to implement the project “Development of Ho Chi Minh City’s Pharmaceutical Industry by 2030, with a vision to 2045”, aiming at producing patented drugs, technology transfer, and specialized treatment drugs. This wave is also spreading strongly to many other localities, notably the Pharmaceutical-Biological Industrial Park in Quynh Phu district, Thai Binh province, with an area of more than 345 hectares and a total investment of over $2 billion, along with the Cat Khanh Pharmaceutical Factory Complex project in Dong Thap province; and some other provinces and cities are also actively embracing this trend.

Strategic momentum for high-tech pharmaceutical enterprises

According to the Drug Administration, as of April 26, 2025, Vietnam has 274 drug production facilities that meet GMP-WHO standards and 28 facilities with production lines that meet EU-GMP or equivalent standards, with Imexpharm leading the country in the number of factories and production lines that meet EU-GMP standards.

Imexpharm pharmacists in research and product development. Photo: Imexpharm.

As a leading pharmaceutical company, Imexpharm is constructing the Cat Khanh Pharmaceutical Factory Complex in Dong Thap province, covering an area of 9.7 hectares, as part of its long-term growth strategy. With a designed capacity of up to 1.4 billion units of products per year upon the completion and full operation of the project (this capacity can be adjusted according to the actual product plan in each period), the project is designed to become a high-value drug production center, expected to be completed by 2028.

The project will focus on producing high-tech drugs such as “first generics”, biosimilars, and complex formulations, as well as products in the new treatment groups of digestion, cardiovascular, and diabetes, segments with a market size of VND 50,000 billion (equivalent to $2 billion) and a compound annual growth rate of over 8% in the past 5 years, including an average growth rate of 13% for diabetes drugs.

People’s Pharmacist, Pharmacist Tran Thi Dao, General Director of Imexpharm, emphasized: “The Cat Khanh Pharmaceutical Factory Complex will be a strategic driving force, helping Imexpharm meet the growing market demand, while consolidating its position in the segment of drugs produced on EU-GMP lines, with high technology and value content. This is a solid foundation for Imexpharm to continue leading in the field of specialized treatment and prepare for the long-term growth cycle in the future.”

Discussion session at Imexpharm’s 2025 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders. Photo: Imexpharm.

Imexpharm identifies 2025 as a pivotal year in the journey to realize its long-term vision, with a total revenue target of VND 2,981 billion, up 18.6% compared to 2024.

To realize its product strategy, Imexpharm continuously invests heavily in research and development (R&D), with an average annual increase of 6% in R&D expenditure and maintaining around 100 ongoing research projects. In 2024, the company launched 24 new products, of which 50% were injections produced on EU-GMP lines. Notably, Imexpharm owns a portfolio of 25 drugs with bioequivalence data (BE), becoming one of the pioneering domestic enterprises in this field.

To comprehensively synchronize the development strategy, Imexpharm also emphasizes the role of digital transformation and performance management as key levers for the new growth phase. Intelligent reporting systems, financial-operational-sales data management platforms, and lean management models are helping the company not only tightly control costs but also make faster and more accurate decisions.

Kim Ngan