Vietnam Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare Report Q1 2008 Out Now

DUBLIN, Ireland--(Business Wire)--
Research and Markets
(http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c86300) has announced the
addition of "Vietnam Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare Report Q1 2008" to
their offering.

The Vietnam Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare Report provides
independent forecasts and competitive intelligence on Vietnams
pharmaceuticals and healthcare industry.

Vietnam is challenge to pharmaceutical firms, as evidenced by its
lowly position on our completely overhauled Business Environment
Rankings for Q108. Negatives include erratic prices, counterfeit drugs
and a large rural population. However, improvements are increasing in
frequency. Perhaps of most significance is healthcare sector
privatisation, which will boost competition and lower costs. The
pharmaceutical market has current valuation of US$1.11bn and we
forecast double digit growth through to 2012.

During Q407, the author has revised its forecast for Vietnams
pharmaceutical import sector after new figures were released by the
Health Ministry. Approximately US$777mn worth of medicine will be
brought into the country this year, which is much higher than our
previous estimate of US$657mn. Usually we would be concerned at this
trend - which is frequently at the expense of the domestic industry -
but local production is also up and the government is looking to
increased foreign direct investment (FDI) by multinationals.

Smoking is a major problem. Between 30,000 and 40,000 people in
Vietnam die of smoking-related diseases each year. However, there is
distinct gender difference. While some 50% of males smoke, only 3% of
females do. As a result, lung disease is on the rise. A recent study
found that 5.2% of Vietnamese people over 40 - roughly 4mn individuals
- have chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD). The country
spends VND12bn (US$750,000) a year on COPD treatment and management.

There are approximately 41,500 drugstores in Vietnam, which
equates to one outlet per 2,000 people, which is very impressive for a
developing country. However, the country has a shortage of trained
pharmacists. To rectify this situation, the Ministry of Health has set
a target of 1.5 pharmacists per 10,000 people. To put this in
perspective, there were 0.8 pharmacists per 10,000 people just two
years ago.

An October 2007 study found that limited regulation of pharmacies,
lack of market information and inefficient domestic production have
caused medicine prices to increase dramatically over the past few
years. The report also revealed that the difference in wholesale
prices between domestic drugs and those imported by State
pharmaceutical companies was 5-8%, while the difference between
domestic drugs and those imported privately was 50-300%.

Companies Mentioned:

-- GlaxoSmithKline

-- Merck & Co

-- Novartis

-- Pfizer

-- Sanofi-Aventis

-- Stada Vietnam

-- Vidipha Central Pharmaceutical Joint Stock Company

-- Vietnam OPV Pharmaceutical Co

-- Vietnam Pharmaceutical Corporation (Vinapharm)

For more information, visit
here

Laura Wood
Senior Manager
Research and Markets
press@researchandmarkets.com
Fax: +353 1 4100 980

Copyright Business Wire 2008