Pharmaceutical extraction plant opens in Bac Ninh

A US$10 million pharmaceutical extraction plant opened its doors yesterday in northern Bac Ninh Province’s Tien Son Industrial Zone.

Financed by the Viet Nam Chemical and Pharmaceutical Company, the 9,500sq.m plant will extract and collect medicinal materials used to produce drugs which will meet the World Health Organisation’s good manufacturing practice standards (GMP – WHO).

The Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan requested the company to closely co-operate with the provincial authorities and relevant sectors to develop areas devoted to growing medicinal raw materials to avoid material shortages.

In its first phase, the plant is expected to provide 500 tonnes of materials annually, with half intended for the domestic market.

Around 1,000 pharmaceutical enterprises, 30 per cent of which are foreign-funded, operate in Viet Nam, according to the Viet Nam Pharmaceutical Companies Association.

However, Viet Nam’s production capacity currently meets only 50 per cent of domestic drug demand with 90 per cent of medical materials imported from abroad, despite the country possessing a treasure-trove of pharmaceutical materials.

In order to boost the development of the pharmaceutical industry, Viet Nam had no choice but to stimulate investment in high-tech extraction technologies, agreed pharmaceutical experts.

To do so, it was necessary for the Government to develop policies to encourage simultaneous investment in material plantation, and advanced technology and training, they said.

They also highlighted the importance of co-operating with leading corporations in developing the domestic industry. — VNS

Tags: Vietnam Pharmaceutical