Espicom's in-depth pharmaceutical market reports are ideal for executives wanting to understand the key drivers in pharmaceutical markets and have access to a wealth of statistical data. Each report opens with an outlook section that provides analysis of the market, 5-year market forecasts, national data projections, market outlook and key developments such as regulation, pricing/reimbursement, intellectual property, health facilities and government policy. The report also provides extensive background information, population trends, health status, health expenditure, organisation & administration, hospital services, medical personnel, healthcare development, market access information, trade data for raw materials and finished products and essential industry contacts. Included with the report are 3 free quarterly updated outlook reports, enabling you to keep up to date with market developments for a year. After years of poor regulation and IP protection, the Vietnamese government has started to gain more control in the the administration of drugs in the market, particularly in the area of price control. The MoH has recently started a crackdown on firms that inflate the price of drugs without prior permission from the Vietnam Drug Administration (VDA), a requirement under the law that was passed in 2005. In 2007, the MoH has come down hard on 13 companies that raised the price of drugs without permission from the VDA, an agency under the MoH, and issued a warning that such firms risk penalties such as fines, or worse still, have their operating licences revoked.

IP laws are still poor, and the Vietnamese drug industry, which has little R&D and makes mainly copycat drugs, supplies 40% of the market. The government is keen to encourage the local industry to supply around 60% of the market, therefore it is not in the best interests of the government to pursue IP laws as aggressively as price control mechanisms. That said, the country's accession in WTO in 2007 and accordance with the TRIPS agreement has seen the country make strides in the formulation of IP laws and protection, but enforcement remains a problem.

The opening of the economy since the doi moi reforms of the mid-1980s has created a demand for Western drugs which cannot be met by the local industry. Imports, therefore, comprise a significant proportion of the market by value. European suppliers dominate, with the French at the forefront, due to their long historical ties with the region. US manufacturers have only been able to directly supply Vietnam since the lifting of the US government trade boycott in 1994.