Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan in Vietnam recently received a delegation led by Burak Pekmezci, Country Lead of Sanofi-Aventis Vietnam. Pekmezci shared that Sanofi has proposed applying a 'reliance mechanism' to accelerate access to new medicines in Vietnam.
Sanofi has outlined five proposed areas of collaboration with the Ministry of Health which includes capacity building; support for rare disease patients; vaccine testing cooperation; preventive health collaboration; and diabetes care.
Training programmes will be conducted to enhance the evaluation capabilities of experts, particularly in reviewing clinical development guidelines and documentation.
Sanofi highlighted its nearly 30-year commitment to supporting rare disease diagnosis and treatment in Vietnam. Through its ICAP International Humanitarian Medicines Access Programme, the company has provided annual support worth hundreds of billions of VND. Sanofi also signed a MoU in February with the Department of Medical Service Administration and other multinational firms to improve care for rare disease patients. It now proposes further support to the Department of Health Insurance in researching new financial models and sharing global best practices.
Sanofi is working with the National Institute for Control of Vaccines and Biologicals on a programme to transfer technology for new vaccine testing methods, share international experience on reliance mechanisms, and train staff on vaccination safety. The company hopes to formalise this with an MoU covering 2025–2027.
The company has proposed a strategic partnership with the Department of Disease Prevention to enhance Vietnam’s preventive health system. This would include legal and policy support, promoting lifelong vaccination, and raising public awareness of immunisation. A three-year MoU is also expected to be signed in the second quarter of 2025. Sanofi is also working with the Vietnam Endocrinology - Diabetes Association to support the Department of Medical Service Administration in rolling out the iSTEP-D Plus online diabetes management training programme. In 2025, the programme aims to train 3,600 healthcare professionals in 18 provinces and cities nationwide.
