Novo Nordisk Vietnam Ltd. welcomes first shipments of products as FIE

This means that Novo Nordisk is now 100 per cent recognised by the government as its own legal entity that can import its own medicine to Vietnam, to be sold on to a local distributor.

This significant achievement marks a new era in Novo Nordisk's expansion, and strengthens its dedication to serving patients in Vietnam. As a fully functional FIE, Novo Nordisk has become an independent importer of its innovative products, expanding its local operations and creating new job opportunities for local talents.

According to the International Diabetes Federation Atlas, there are nearly four million adults in Vietnam living with Type 2 diabetes. However, the diagnosis rate is only 50 per cent, i.e. over two million people have been diagnosed with the condition. Of these, 65 per cent had complications at diagnosis, including heart disease, kidney failure, or amputations, which caused personal loss and put a significant financial burden on the government and society. In addition, the increasing emergence of Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is adding to the healthcare challenges that Vietnam is facing.

In addition, according to World Obesity Atlas, Vietnam has very high annual increase in childhood obesity, mostly in its big cities.

Over the past decade, Novo Nordisk Vietnam has worked closely with Vietnam’s Ministry of Health (MoH) and the Danish Embassy, hospital partners, and eminent associations like the Vietnam Association of Diabetes and Endocrinology to transform the T2D treatment landscape. These partnerships have included developing physician capability building initiatives, raising public awareness, and shaping healthcare policy.

In June 2024, Novo Nordisk Vietnam together with the MoH, Danish Embassy and Vietnam Pediatric Association, embarked on a new public-private partnership. Together, the four partners will focus on strategic initiatives that transcend borders, leveraging collective expertise and experiences to tackle pressing health issues.

The focus of the collaboration will be on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) as they pose a significant threat to public health in Vietnam. Among these, diabetes (both type 1 and type 2) and obesity stand out as serious chronic diseases affecting millions of people in Vietnam.

The complications associated with these two chronic diseases are numerous, impacting not only physical health but also the quality of life of patients. By centring the collaboration on chronic diseases such as diabetes and obesity, the collaboration aims to develop innovative solutions, improve prevention strategies, and enhance patient care.

Novo Nordisk is a leading global healthcare company founded in 1923 and headquartered in Denmark. Its purpose is to drive change to defeat serious chronic diseases, built upon our heritage in diabetes. The company does so by pioneering scientific breakthroughs, expanding access to medicine, and working to prevent and ultimately cure disease. Novo Nordisk employs about 66,000 people in 80 countries, and markets its products in around 170 countries.

Novo Nordisk’s products has been present in Vietnam for over 30 years, with the first human insulin brought to Vietnam in 1992. Novo Nordisk established representative offices in Ho Chi Minh City in 2011 and then Hanoi in 2015.

Vietnam’s pharmaceutical market is one of the fastest growing markets in the world. However, although the market is growing rapidly, production capacity can only meet about half of domestic demand.

Vietnam needs to open up its pharmaceutical distribution and logistics activities, but such changes will take time.

Increasing footprints in Vietnam in 2023, multinational corporations continue to eye stronger local partnerships to bring more new innovative medicines and vaccines to the local market in 2024 and beyond.

Domestic and multinational corporations are expected to enjoy specific incentive policies for their tech transfer plans in Vietnam’s pharmaceutical industry.