AstraZeneca plc, a British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company, has announced that it is choosing Vietnamese partners for transfer technology of Covid-19 vaccine production to the country.

Vietnam's Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (R) and Nitin Kapoor, Chairman and General Director of AstraZeneca Vietnam & Frontier Markets at a meeting in Hanoi on Jan 19. Photo: VGP

The move was revealed by Nitin Kapoor, Chairman and General Director of AstraZeneca Vietnam & Frontier Markets, at the meeting with Vietnam’s Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in Hanoi on January 19.

AstraZeneca is accelerating an US$88-million drug manufacturing tech transfer project in Vietnam. 

Nitin Kapoor said the company considers lowering Covid-19 vaccine prices for Vietnam and speeding up the implementation of contracts signed with the Government of Vietnam during the PM’s visit to the UK in November 2021.

For his part, PM Chinh highly appreciated the company’s supply of 30 million doses of AstraZeneca Covid-19 Vaccine to Vietnam in 2021. The timely shipment has largely contributed to the flexible adaptation to Covid-19 in the Southeast Asian country.

Chinh requested AstraZeneca to continue providing up-to-date drugs against Covid-19 to Vietnam and share experience in vaccinating children aged 5-12. He said the Government will facilitate the company’s operations in Vietnam.

In contracts signed in the UK last year with the attendance of the Vietnamese PM and AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot, the multinational pharmaceutical company announced $88 million to help Vietnam improve the domestic pharmaceutical production capacity, totaling its investment in the Southeast Asian country to $308 million for 2020-2024.

The latest investment is aimed to roll out three important kinds of drugs produced in Vietnam by AZ in the 2022-2030 period. In a broader move, its investment accelerates AstraZeneca’s existing efforts to expand access to healthcare and to improve the quality of healthcare delivery for Vietnamese patients. In addition, AstraZeneca will continue to drive the development of biomedical science and innovation in Vietnam through clinical research and R&D.

Accordingly, AZ will select a Vietnamese partner to transfer technology on producing world-standard drugs in Vietnam against non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

AstraZeneca is the first supplier of Covid-19 vaccine for Vietnam. In total, AstraZeneca inked deals to supply 55 million doses of vaccine for the country, becoming the biggest supplier of this kind of vaccine.

According to Nitin Kapoor, AstraZeneca and the Government of Vietnam have cooperated for 27 years.