Sandoz and Vietnam National Cancer Hospital sign MoU to improve standards of care for oncology patients

This is the second such partnership that Sandoz has signed with a Vietnamese hospital since becoming a standalone company to improve local and international knowledge-sharing, and reinforcing its commitment to reducing the cancer burden in Vietnam.

Sandoz and the Vietnam National Cancer Hospital signed the MoU in Hanoi on June 12

Vietnam currently has over 190,000 new cancer diagnoses each year, with the disease claiming the lives of more than 120,000 people in Vietnam per year. It is second only to cardio-vascular disease as the leading cause of non-communicable disease deaths in the nation.

“This partnership is about improving the connections and cooperation between domestic and foreign oncology organisations and experts, and builds upon more than a decade of collaboration between Sandoz and the Vietnam National Cancer Hospital,” said Charaf Eddine Kadri, general director of Sandoz Vietnam.

“The partnership will ultimately see Sandoz sponsor and support information seminars that help doctors at the country’s leading specialized oncology hospital, and, by extension, around Vietnam’s northern regions to discuss and develop prevention and treatment plans for patients,” he added.

Sandoz is a longstanding leader in oncology. Over five million patients in Vietnam receive Sandoz treatments annually, including various cancer conditions which are covered by treatments in Vietnam’s public hospital system.

Professor Le Van Quang, director of the Vietnam National Cancer Hospital, added, “The Vietnam National Cancer Hospital is the country’s leading specialised hospital in the field of oncology, with highly qualified medical experts and modern equipment. Our hospital always works with the leading pharmaceutical companies in education, technique transfer, and scientific research to deliver the highest standard of treatment for Vietnamese patients.”

The hospital, located in the capital’s central Hoan Kiem District, celebrated its 100th anniversary in November last year and is Vietnam’s largest oncology hospital, with over 450,000 medical examinations per year.

In March of this year, Sandoz also signed a similar partnership with the Ho Chi Minh City Oncology Hospital, which has already seen the company support its Annual Cancer Congress.

Sandoz, which became a wholly independent enterprise globally last year, and received its Vietnam licence earlier this year, entered the market under the stewardship of general director Charaf Eddine Kadri, with a commitment to pioneering access to patients through affordable generic and biosimilar treatments in areas including oncology, anti-infectives, and a wide array of other therapeutic areas.

Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Sandoz is the global leader in generic and biosimilar medicines, with a growth strategy driven by its purpose: pioneering access for patients. 22,000 people of more than 100 nationalities work together to bring Sandoz medicines to some 500 million patients worldwide, generating substantial global healthcare savings and an even larger total social impact. Its leading portfolio of more than 1,500 products addresses diseases from the common cold to cancer.

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