A laboratory belonging to Sanofi Vietnam. The company has been licensed by the Ministry of Health to import drugs. — Photo Courtesy Sanofi Vietnam

Sanofi Vietnam said it has received a licence from the Ministry of Health to import pharmaceuticals, the first foreign company to do so.

Sanofi has also received the first batch of imports comprising meningococcal vaccines and stored it at its depot in HCM City’s District 9.

Haissam Chraiteh, country chair, Sanofi Indochina, said: “It is an honourable achievement to receive such a licence from the Vietnamese Government to lawfully carry out drug import and trading in Việt Nam.”

The Drug Administration of Việt Nam has forecast that the pharmaceutical industry could achieve double digit growth for the next five years and its value could increase to US$7.7 billion by 2021.

The prospects look bright, especially for foreign-owned companies, now that the government and ministry have begun to ease licensing procedures and permit trading of drugs directly imported to Việt Nam, which will enable Vietnamese to gain more exposure to high-quality healthcare products and services.

The easing of drug import licensing would encourage foreign companies to adopt ever more proactive management and business approaches and simplify their supply chains, the company said in a release. — VNS