Multi-sector corporation Masan steps up retail pharma game

Masan, one of Vietnam’s largest listed conglomerates by market capitalization, has made another move in the drug distribution business.

It set up Winphar this March as a service and trading firm with a charter capital of just VND10 million (about $430). The new company was renamed Dr. Win earlier this month and its capital sky-rocketed to almost VND28.6 billion (over $1.22 million). Winphar has begun recruiting pharmacists for its retail business.

Ho Chi Minh City-based Masan operates in multiple sectors including agriculture, food processing, coffee chains, retail, minerals, banking and financial services. It is strongly developing its “Point of Life” concept, where minimarts provide banking services, essential products, pharmaceuticals, food, coffee, tea and other beverages under one roof.

Already incorporated into the minimarts are medicines distributed by HCMC-based Phano Pharma Co, and mobile services provided by new telecommunication brand Reddi.

Masan's vision is to build an offline-to-online platform that will enable customers to have the same experience whether they are sitting at home or shopping at stores.

The Vietnamese pharmaceutical retail market, meanwhile, has been bustling. Big market players FPT Retail and Mobile World Group (MWG) have made their mark across Vietnam in operating pharmacy chains.

The race between the two is indicated by the expansion of FPT Retail’s Long Chau and MWG’s An Khang chains.

FPT's pharmacy chain has about 500 stores nationwide to date, while An Khang operates more than 200, mostly in the south.

Meanwhile, another player in the market, Digiworld, a distributor of tech products, has said it would focus resources on drug retail this year with the goal of becoming one of the three largest pharmaceutical distributors in Vietnam.