AstraZeneca scales up investment in Vietnam

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc at the ceremony attesting to AstraZeneca's long-term investment commitment in Vietnam. Photo: VNA

AstraZeneca has just announced a five-year investment of VND5 trillion ($220 million) for the 2020-2024 period in Vietnam during Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s ongoing visit to Sweden.

The investment, which was announced at AstraZeneca’s main manufacturing site in Södertälje in the presence of the Vietnamese Premier and representatives from the Swedish government, underpins AstraZeneca’s commitment to the Vietnamese government’s call for all healthcare partners to strive for better health for the Vietnamese people, as expressed in the 2017 resolution and the recently launched “Vietnam Health Programme”.

The investment accelerates AstraZeneca’s existing efforts to expand access to healthcare and to improve the quality of healthcare delivery for Vietnamese patients. This will also ensure that the company continues to develop high value employment.

AstraZeneca aims to play a leading role in reducing the prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), which accounted for 318,000 deaths (72 per cent of total deaths) annually, which in turn implies 6.7 million years of life lost, and 14 million disability-adjusted life years

Part of the commitment includes the implementation of the Young Health Programme (YHP) to improve the management and control of NCDs.

AstraZeneca, Plan International, the National Youth Centre and the Hanoi Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (HNCDC) are partnering to empower young people and their communities to make healthy choices in diet, exercise and lifestyle.

In the next three years, YHP aims to educate over 46,000 directly from 27 schools and universities and 100,000 youths indirectly on risk factors surrounding NCDs such as diabetes and cancer.

This new collaboration is built on the company’s ambition to work with external partners to expand the healthcare capacity development in Vietnam, which has seen recent successful milestone initiatives such Healthy Lung Vietnam that addresses asthma and COPD management and as well Early Action in Diabetes, a programme that aims to increase early diagnosis to prevent complications surrounding diabetes.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc visits AstraZeneca's biopharmaceutical company in Sweden. Photo: VNA

In addition, AstraZeneca will continue to drive the development of biomedical science and innovation in Vietnam through clinical research and R&D. The data from these research programmes will enable future medicines to better address the needs of Vietnamese patients and provide uplift in the biomedical expertise in the country.

AstraZeneca has been the leading initiator of clinical research in Vietnam in the past five years. The company looks forward to expanding its collaboration with its robust network of more than 130 research sites nationwide.

AstraZeneca intends to establish innovation programme to collaborate with competent Vietnamese agencies and organisations to work on research and innovation projects.

The company will continue to invest in training and improving the capacity of healthcare practitioners at primary care or grassroots levels to increase early diagnosis and provide the right treatment for patients.

As a final component of AstraZeneca’s commitment, the company will provide over 500 high-quality jobs in biomedical sciences and medical affairs, as well as sales and marketing through the third party.

By giving Vietnamese talented professionals development opportunities and exposure to AstraZeneca’s global operations, the company aims to increase national biomedical skills and drive forward Vietnam’s medical and economic development.

Leif Johannson, chairman of AstraZeneca, said: “AstraZeneca is proud to have been present in Vietnam for 25 years. Through this investment, we strengthen our commitment to work with our partners to improve healthcare for the people in Vietnam."

"We look forward to working with the government, hospitals and other partners to lift Vietnam’s healthcare capability to world-class levels and reach the goals of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,” he added.

“I am honoured to lead the implementation of this new phase of our operations in Vietnam. As a global biopharmaceutical company with strong roots in Sweden and the UK, we are proud to continue to partner with the Vietnamese government and healthcare organisations that place people’s health as a top priority. We are passionate about transforming the lives of patients with diseases such as diabetes, asthma and cancer and, with the new investment, are excited about accelerating our efforts nationwide,” said Nitin Kapoor, president of AstraZeneca in Vietnam.

AstraZeneca is a global, science-led biopharmaceutical company that focuses on the discovery, development and commercialisation of prescription medicines, primarily for the treatment of diseases in three therapy areas - Oncology, Cardiovascular, Renal & Metabolism and Respiratory. AstraZeneca operates in over 100 countries and its innovative medicines are used by millions of patients worldwide.