The Da Nang Pharmaceutical Joint Stock Company (Danapha) has invested VND80 billion (nearly US$3.5 million) to build a new production line for the Golden Star Balm, a product that it will export to the Russia and East European markets.

The company told Viet Nam News that exports of the balm to Russia, East Europe and Southeast Asia accounted for 70 per cent of the company’s annual revenue, with the domestic market accounting for just 5 per cent of total sales.

The Da Nang-based company said 20 million units of various balm products including inhalers, balm and medicated oil are exported to Russia and East European countries annually.

Last year, the city granted an investment licence to Danapha’s first nano-technology and biotech project with total investment of VND1.5 trillion ($67 million) at the city’s Hi-Tech Park.

The company plans to produce a billion tablets and 100 million units of injectable drugs per year from 2017-2018, and it is testing nanotechnology-based cancer injections to make treatment of the disease cheaper.

Danapha opened its first plant meeting GMP-WHO (good manufacturing practices criteria set by the World Health Organisation) standards in 2009. — VNS