Đồng Tháp Province-based Imexpharm Joint Stock Company (IMP) on Friday announced the signing of a strategic cooperation agreement with Genuone Sciences Inc, one of the leading pharmaceutical companies from South Korea. 

This collaboration marks a significant stride for Imexpharm, empowering the company to delve deeper into the production of specialised medications at affordable prices, Imexpharm said in a statement. 

The cooperation agreement entails close collaboration between Genuone and Imexpharm in the initial phase to identify suitable product portfolios for the Vietnamese market, it said. 

Imexpharm and Genuone are expected to provide over ten types of medications for the treatment of cardiovascular and diabetes-related diseases. As part of the collaboration plan, Genuone will manage the registration of drug circulation (Marketing Authorisation – MA) and transfer manufacturing technology to Imexpharm, including formulation, production processes, quality standards for finished products, and related quality documentation.

Additionally, Genuone will send technical experts to support the transfer and training of technology to Imexpharm.

Speaking at the signing ceremony on Friday, Trần Thị Đào, General Director of Imexpharm, said the strategic partnership with Genuone is a significant step for Imexpharm in producing high-quality specialised medications at reasonable costs, aiming to replace imported drugs.

"This has practical significance in helping patients alleviate the financial burden of treatment and contributes to the implementation of Việt Nam's National Strategy for Pharmaceutical Development until 2030, with the specific goal of domestically producing around 80 per cent of the demand and capturing 70 per cent of the market value," she said. 

Samsoo Lee, CEO of Genuone Sciences Inc, described the strategic cooperation with Imexpharm as an important one that helps Genuone gradually access the Vietnamese pharmaceutical market, a potential and dynamic market in the Southeast Asia region.

2023 was a year of many challenges and difficulties after two years of the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, which hurt many industries, but the Vietnamese pharmaceutical industry still maintained its growth rate.

Mirae Asset Securities Company projected that the pharmaceutical industry would continue to maintain a compound annual growth rate of 6 per cent in the 2023-28 period. The value of the pharmaceutical industry in 2024 is expected to reach US$7.89 billion, up 9.1 per cent year-on-year.

In line with the overall growth trend of the entire industry, Imexpharm continued to maintain double-digit growth in 2023.

As of the end of 2023, the total gross revenue surpassed VNĐ2.11 trillion, up 26 per cent from the overall market growth rate of 8 per cent. Its net revenue also saw an increase of 21 per cent to over VNĐ1.99 trillion.

To date, Imexpharm owns four manufacturing clusters, including three EU-GMP manufacturing clusters with eleven production lines that meet EU-GMP standards. This has made Imexpharm the largest pharmaceutical manufacturing company with EU-GMP manufacturing clusters and the highest number of EU-GMP production lines. — VNS