Vietnamese Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính and his delegation met with AstraZeneca executives on Monday during his trip to the UK. — Photo from Việt Nam Government Portal

GLASGOW — Vietnamese Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính on Tuesday has witnessed the signing of various cooperation agreements with AstraZeneca, as part of his trip to the UK to attend the UN Climate Change Conference.

The British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company and Vietnamese partners have reached deals on promoting the biopharmaceutical industry in Việt Nam and assisting Việt Nam’s COVID-19 response.

AstraZeneca is set to invest about VNĐ2 trillion ($90 million) to support Việt Nam’s pharmaceutical capacity, giving patients better access to high-quality drugs that are manufactured in Việt Nam. It is expected that over the next ten years there would be three major drugs manufactured in Việt Nam that would be available.

Under the guidance of the Ministry of Health of Việt Nam, AstraZeneca will choose a partner in Việt Nam to transfer production technology and provide the necessary expertise and technical processes to ensure the AstraZeneca’s therapeutic products for non-communicable diseases produced in the country will meet the group's global standards.

This new investment announcement follows AstraZeneca's VNĐ5 trillion ($220 million) investment in Việt Nam for the period 2020-24 announced in 2019.

In addition, AstraZeneca and Việt Nam Vaccine Joint Stock Company (VNVC) signed an agreement to supply an additional 25 million doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, on top of the current 30 million dose deal, and AstraZeneca’s long-acting monoclonal antibody treatment that could provide protection from COVID-19 for six to 12 months.

When the health ministry approves this treatment, Việt Nam would be one of the first countries to have access to this product. AD7442 is designed for people with weakened immune systems or who do not respond to currently available vaccines.

Speaking at a meeting with the company’s leaders, PM Chính said he highly appreciates the position, role and importance of AstraZeneca in the prevention of the global COVID-19 pandemic, and thanked AstraZeneca for being the first company to supply COVID-19 vaccines to Việt Nam during the pandemic.

To date, Việt Nam has received about 22 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine under the contract signed with the company, and has also received about 30 million doses through the COVAX mechanism and donation/transference from other countries with the consent of AstraZeneca.

He stressed that vaccines have helped Việt Nam overcome the severe fourth wave of infections and enabled the country to transition to a 'safe, flexible adaptation, and effective control of disease.’

The Prime Minister suggested AstraZeneca soon hand over the remaining vaccines committed to Việt Nam on schedule.

“In the past months, we have been buying the speed of vaccine delivery, not just the vaccines themselves,” he noted.

He said he wishes to see AstraZeneca expand its long-term investment and contribute to Việt Nam’s health security and public health efforts, and pledged to create favourable conditions, including expedited procedures, for the group to do this.

PM Chính highlighted the advantages for AstraZeneca when operating in Việt Nam such as a potential domestic market that enjoys incentives by 60 countries around the world with which Việt Nam has signed free trade agreements. Việt Nam also boasts the most open economy in Southeast Asia, he added.

PM Chính said: “I hope that what we achieved today marks just the beginning of a long journey of strategic cooperation between Việt Nam and AstraZeneca.

"The beginning could be difficult, but that needs to happen, and this would be the basis for the hope that this relationship will soon bear the best fruits.”

AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot said his company will work to fulfil the 30 million order within November, and start delivery of the new order in December.

He expressed his hope for vaccine production in Việt Nam while vowing to allocate resources to support the country in digital and smart health solutions to help reduce CO2 emissions, contributing to environmental protection.

Nitin Kapoor, President for Asia Area Frontier Market at AstraZeneca and Chairman and General Director of AstraZeneca Việt Nam, said that this was a memorable day in the 27 years of partnership between Việt Nam and AstraZeneca. — VNS