Generic drug development helps reduce cost burden while ensuring drug access

On November 5, in Hanoi, the People's Representative Newspaper organized a discussion on "Future value of the high-quality generic drug market" with the participation of a number of National Assembly Deputies, the Drug Administration of Vietnam ( Ministry of Health ), Vietnam Social Security, representatives of the European Business Association in Vietnam...

Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the People's Representative Newspaper Le Thanh Kim said that at the ongoing 10th Session, the National Assembly will consider and approve two important draft Resolutions on people's health care.

Firstly, the draft Resolution stipulates mechanisms and policies to effectively implement Resolution 72-NQ/TW of the Politburo on a number of breakthrough solutions to strengthen the protection, care and improvement of people's health in the new situation. Secondly, the draft Resolution on investment policy for the National Target Program on health care, population and development for the period 2026-2035.

In such a context, the seminar was organized with the hope of providing more scientific and practical arguments for the process of building and perfecting policies for the development of the health and pharmaceutical sectors in general and ensuring access to safe, effective and reasonably priced drugs for people in particular.

The report “Future Value of Generic Drug Market in Vietnam” by KPMG Vietnam shows that Vietnam can completely become a regional center for innovation and pharmaceutical production, if it knows how to take advantage of successful models in the world and remove current barriers.

Notably, the report pointed out that Vietnam is entering a period of rapid population aging, leading to a sharp increase in demand for health care and medication use.

Meanwhile, per capita health spending is increasing twice as fast as disposable income, which puts greater financial pressure on people. Therefore, developing high-quality generic drugs is a strategic solution to reduce the cost burden while ensuring drug access for people, especially the elderly population.

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Cong Hoang discussed at the seminar.

Delegates said that if there are appropriate policies, generic drugs will not only be a cost-effective medical solution, but also a key economic sector, contributing to strengthening internal strength, improving competitiveness and pushing Vietnam closer to the goal of becoming a regional pharmaceutical hub.

The consistent spirit of the 2024 Pharmacy Law and the National Strategy for the Development of Vietnam's Pharmaceutical Industry to 2030, with a vision to 2045, is to proactively provide quality, safe, and effective drugs at reasonable prices, best serving people's health and socio-economic development.

To achieve this goal, in addition to focusing on developing innovative drugs or specialized product lines, Vietnam needs to expand preferential policies for high-quality generic drugs.

On the part of ministries and branches, it is necessary to review and simplify procedures for inspection and approval of drug dossiers, ensure transparency, shorten assessment time while still complying with international standards.

With the desire for people to have access to good quality drugs at reasonable prices, Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Cong Hoang, Director of Thai Nguyen Central Hospital, National Assembly Delegate of Thai Nguyen province, said that Vietnam needs to aim for the goal of "bringing high quality generic drugs to the country".

But to do that, it is necessary to remove three key factors: tax policy, public-private partnership mechanism, and regulations for foreign enterprises.

If we can truly "untie" these bottlenecks and create an open and stable investment environment, we can completely form large-scale pharmaceutical production projects, contributing to reducing costs and improving people's access to medicine.

Deputy Director of the Drug Administration Nguyen Thanh Lam shared that to develop a new drug, pharmaceutical companies often have to spend decades of research at a cost of millions, even billions of dollars. Therefore, if only relying on invented drugs, no country can have enough financial resources to meet the treatment needs of its people.

From that reality, generic drugs were born - drugs developed after the original drug's protection period expired, with similar ingredients, uses and treatment effects, but at a much cheaper price.

Deputy Director of the Department of Drug Administration Nguyen Thanh Lam discussed at the seminar.

From a management and policy perspective, most countries, including Vietnam, consider encouraging research, production and use of high-quality generic drugs an important priority of the pharmaceutical industry.

Since 2014, the National Strategy for the Development of the Vietnamese Pharmaceutical Industry to 2020 and Vision to 2030 has focused on promoting research and production of domestic generic drugs. The National Strategy for the Development of the Vietnamese Pharmaceutical Industry to 2030, Vision to 2045, clearly states the goal that by 2030, 75% of generic drugs will be produced domestically and used in the health system.

Also since 2016, the Pharmacy Law has clearly stipulated the policy of prioritizing the use of generic drugs in drug procurement using the state budget and health insurance. In the latest revised Pharmacy Law, this policy continues to be expanded, including prioritizing administrative procedures, registration and licensing for generic drugs.

According to statistics from the Health Insurance Agency, about 80% of the drugs used in public health facilities today are generic drugs. This shows that the policy of prioritizing the development and use of generic drugs has been fully institutionalized in the Party's policies and the State's laws, and is gradually being put into practice through the public health system.

Minh Hoang

Source: https://nhandan.vn/phat-trien-thuoc-generic-giup-giam-ganh-nang-chi-phi-ma-van-bao-dam-kha-nang-tiep-can-thuoc-post920793.html