Pharma sector faces up to AI hurdles

According to FPT Digital, AI and generative AI are creating positive impacts across the global pharmaceutical industry. GenAI is expected to contribute between $60 billion and $110 billion annually from 2024 to 2029. All stages of the pharmaceutical value chain are benefiting from the application of GenAI.

Hoang Viet Anh, chairman of FPT Digital, explained that AI supports the development of new drugs by significantly reducing both time and costs. A notable example is Insilico Medicine, which, with AI support, discovered a new drug in under 18 months, at just 10 per cent of the usual cost.

“In clinical trials, AI can shorten the trial period by up to 12 months and cut costs by 50 per cent compared to conventional methods,” Anh said.

To realise these substantial benefits, the global pharmaceutical industry is expected to invest heavily in AI towards 2030, with projected annual growth of 42.68 per cent. By 2029, total investment in AI by pharmaceutical companies is forecast to reach $18 billion, with the Asia–Pacific region emerging as the fastest-growing market.

“The application of AI in the pharmaceutical industry has been, and will continue to be, a strong development trend,” said Anh. “Vietnam cannot remain outside that trend. This is a golden opportunity for Vietnam’s pharmaceutical sector to embrace digital transformation and apply AI to boost operational efficiency.”

Anh noted that Vietnam currently has a highly open legal framework, including heavily promoted new rules on providing strong impetus for digital transformation and the application of new technology and innovation across all sectors, including pharmaceuticals.

In parallel, the role of the private economy is being enhanced, enabling pharmaceutical firms, hospitals, doctors, and pharmacists to collaborate based on shared data systems.

However, experts have pointed out that Vietnam’s healthcare sector still faces considerable challenges in applying AI and innovation to improve healthcare accessibility. The pharmaceutical data infrastructure remains fragmented, lacking a centralised, standardised, and digitalised system – a major roadblock to development.

“The industry continues to face difficulties in tracing drug origins and preventing the circulation of counterfeit or substandard medicines,” admitted Anh from FPT Digital. “Clinical trials for new drugs also remain lengthy.”

Experts suggested that Vietnam could learn from international models to enhance innovation and digital transformation in the sector. Hwee Ching Ang, deputy CEO of the Experimental Drug Development Centre in Singapore, said rising healthcare demand in the Asia–Pacific region is driving greater interest and investment in innovation. With rapid growth and escalating demand, the region is becoming a new frontier for the life sciences sector.

“In response, the Singaporean government has long prioritised biomedical innovation to boost research output and attract talent,” he said. “Singapore has steadily invested in research and development for more than two decades, enhancing the financial environment through both domestic and international capital inflows into the biotech ecosystem.”

He added that Singapore is strengthening translational and clinical research capabilities and attracting multinational companies to establish regional headquarters and research centres.

As a result, more than 41 per cent of the world’s leading biopharmaceutical companies now have their regional headquarters in Singapore, making it the most innovative nation in Asia–Pacific. The country’s ecosystem comprises a diverse mix of multinational corporations, startups, government agencies, venture capital investors, and incubators.

Dr. Chang Liu, CEO and founder of ASK Health Asia, said that building a multi-layered health financing system can help improve access.

“There is a growing trend in Asia–Pacific towards multi-source healthcare financing to ensure better access to high-value treatments,” Liu said. “Evidence shows that traditional public funding mechanisms may be limited in scope and availability, creating delays or gaps in patient access.”

For example, Singapore has evolved from a savings-based model to a multi-source system, developing government-backed commercial health insurance schemes that now cover more than 70 per cent of the population.

Mainland China is working to build a multi-layered insurance framework with basic medical insurance at its core, supplemented by commercial insurance. It has also promoted public–private partnership models, now covering more than 12 per cent of the population.

In Taiwan, authorised agencies are exploring diversified financing mechanisms for high-value treatments not covered by national health insurance, including a dedicated cancer drug fund to ease patients’ financial burdens.

Japan, meanwhile, is advancing initiatives to strengthen its drug discovery capabilities through the Council of the Concept for Early Prevalence of Novel Drugs to Patients. These efforts aim to eliminate both drug lag and drug loss.

Specifically, Japan is establishing frameworks for first-in-human clinical trials, enhancing the role of core clinical research hospitals in drug development, promoting multi-regional clinical trials, supporting the development and career progression of clinical trial professionals, and encouraging overseas companies to conduct trials in Japan.

Takaaki Enoki, deputy director of the National Healthcare Policy Secretariat under the Japanese government, said, “To maintain Japan’s global leadership in drug discovery, we are building an ecosystem that supports academia and startups from early research to clinical application, with consistent policy and financial backing. This is also vital for ensuring national security.”

By reforming the structure of the pharmaceutical industry and improving the investment environment, Japan aims to create a sustainable system that enables continual, cyclical development of innovation and capital.

“At the same time, we will promote balanced policies over the medium and long term, considering the integration of general treatment and self-care models,” Enoki added.

Vietnam currently has nearly 95 per cent of its population covered by health insurance. However, despite achievements in healthcare financing, the country still faces a high level of out-of-pocket spending, which now exceeds 40 per cent of total healthcare expenditure – indicating that many individuals are still paying significantly for medical services beyond insurance coverage.

Le Thanh Long, deputy Prime Minister

Vietnam’s healthcare system is currently deeply affected by digital transformation and innovation. Science and technology are changing approaches to medical examination and treatment, disease prevention, scientific research, training, medical management, and people’s health management.

In recent times, digital transformation in healthcare has made significant progress. All medical facilities have deployed hospital information systems. Many have deployed e-health records, remote exam and treatment, electronic prescriptions, AI treatment support, and the use of robots.

However, digital transformation in healthcare still faces many issues which raise urgent requirements for innovation in leadership, direction, and strong implementation in public healthcare in the new era as directed by the general secretary.

With that spirit, the Politburo has recently issued important pillars in the form of various resolutions for national development. These resolutions, together with the Politburo’s resolutions in the health sector that are about to be issued, will create strong momentum and breakthroughs in healthcare.

David Duong, global primary healthcare director Harvard Medical School

Vietnam has made strides in policy. The country expands health insurance coverage to 93 per cent of the population, including a wide range of primary healthcare services, expanding primary healthcare services through a pilot family medicine model, and upgrading commune health stations to manage non-communicable diseases and provide patient-centred care. It also carried out training and retraining of health workers and investment in digital health, as well as issuing clinical guidelines for chronic diseases that emphasise hierarchy.

The country needs continued investment in policy implementation. Policy implementation needs support because of outdated healthcare staffing model. Many doctors at commune health stations are unqualified or inexperienced in chronic disease care. In particular, task sharing, competency-based training, and incentives are needed to retain healthcare workers in rural areas.

Supervision, support, and experience are insufficient to improve quality and implement clinical standards.

Local policies have not kept up with the times. National policies call for decentralisation, but this must be accompanied by changes and updates to local-level processes and procedures (for example diagnostic systems and sample transport systems). It should also overcome the loss of trust in the primary healthcare system. Patients often bypass primary healthcare to go directly to higher-level hospitals due to lack of trust in the services of commune health stations.