Pfizer putting even more breakthroughs in Vietnamese patients’ hands

One of Pfizer's global priorities is to advance public health. How is this goal being implemented in Vietnam?

On November 30, 2022, Pfizer Vietnam was honored to receive Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s certificate of merit for achievements in supporting Vietnam's efforts to combat Covid-19 in 2021. That year was a remarkable period in our fight against the pandemic.

To urgently support Vietnam’s healthcare sector, Pfizer has collaborated with the Ministry of Health to complete delivery of around 111 million doses of our vaccine – BNT162b2 – to people as quickly as possible. They were some 51 million doses from our agreement with the Ministry of Health and about 60 million doses donated.

This prestigious certificate of merit marks our contributions that have been recognized by the government. We remain committed to fulfilling our commitments with the Vietnamese government to fight the pandemic together and protect people's health, as we work continuously towards achieving our goal of equitable access to reduce the burden on healthcare systems in developing countries, including Vietnam.

In addition to our significant contributions in supplying the vaccine to Vietnam, we have proudly reached more than eight million Vietnamese patients who were treated with our medicines and vaccines in 2022 across other areas, including oncology, rare diseases, internal medicine, anti-infectives, and immunology.

Pfizer globally focuses on issues like antibiotics, supplying high-quality medical products for the treatment of cardiovascular disease, anti-infectives and cancer drugs. How does this go for the Vietnamese market?

Our business is focused on where we believe we will have the greatest impacts on patients and society, pursuing what we believe to be the most innovative biopharmaceutical therapies – for example in oncology, rare diseases, internal medicine, anti-infectives, and immunology – as well as vaccines. Pfizer is “all in” on our purpose – breakthroughs that change patients’ lives – by putting even more breakthroughs in Vietnamese patients’ hands.

What progress is Pfizer making in combating new variants of the virus?

At the start of the pandemic, Pfizer recognized that a dual approach of prevention and treatment was critical to control Covid-19. Vaccination is the first line of defense to prevent hospitalization and death. Treatments complement vaccination efforts and, by helping to protect against severe illness caused by breakthrough infections, help address gaps in vaccine uptake and the emergence of new variants.

As the pandemic continues to evolve, our strategy remains focused on the dual pillars of prevention and treatment. We remain committed to following the science as we explore new vaccine candidates designed to broadly protect against current, emerging and future SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern, as well as advancing studies exploring use of our oral antiviral treatment in additional populations with high unmet needs and continuing work on next-generation treatment agents for people of all ages.

We are looking to work with Vietnam’s government and Ministry of Health to accelerate the marketing authorization approval of our Covid-19 vaccine to ensure availability to the Vietnamese people.

Vaccines are one of Pfizer's strengths, as shown during the pandemic. Which vaccine products are being prioritized by Pfizer for Vietnam now and in the future?

We have been accompanying Vietnam for many years to help address challenges from the burden of vaccine-preventable infectious diseases. We are aiming to supply innovative and unmet need for vaccines to Vietnam. Besides, we are also exploring opportunities to collaborate with Vietnamese partners.

I can list some goals as follows.

First, to improve the capacity of healthcare professionals in proactively consulting and preventing diseases of all ages, especially those at high risk for vaccine-preventable diseases through scientific conferences to update knowledge.

Second, to collaborate in upgrading staff in development, implementation and management of real-world data on vaccinations, which we call “real-world evidence”, in Vietnam, thus providing a bigger picture and database on the potential pathogens and related vaccination patterns in Vietnamese people for the appropriate vaccine selection.

Third, to raise public awareness of diseases and healthcare prevention through education and communication, reduce disease burden, and protect public health by increasing the rate of proactive prevention of dangerous infections through multiple measures, including vaccines.

During a business trip to the U.S. to attend the International Conference on Biology on June 5-8, 2023, the Vietnamese Ministry of Health delegation visited the New York headquarters of Pfizer. The mission wished to continue to see Pfizer's cooperation in providing drugs and vaccines and see Pfizer's further investments in Vietnam. What are your plans for the future?

It was an honor for Pfizer to welcome the mission at our head office in New York in early June. We appreciated having an open and productive discussion with the Vietnamese health sector's leadership with the aim of developing the healthcare industry in Vietnam to become a leader in the region.

From Pfizer's perspective, a strategy focused on innovation can help Vietnam leapfrog the traditional sector development phases, which focus on low value generic medications primarily utilized for the local market, to one that attracts FDI in areas such as R&D, including clinical trials, development of the biotech sector driven through public, private and academic collaboration, digital health, and innovative manufacturing like biosimilars and vaccines.

Pfizer has been and will continue to support and accompany Vietnam in building its biopharmaceutical sector with the purpose of making “breakthroughs that change patients’ lives”, and we always strive to bring the newest innovative medicines and vaccines to patients in Vietnam. Pfizer will also prioritize activities such as creating partnerships with healthcare governmental stakeholders in capacity building, updating, and sharing of advanced scientific information, and looking for opportunities for clinical activities in Vietnam.

Businesses and workers globally face great challenges due to the heavy impacts of the pandemic. To respond, what are the solutions and/or measures being taken by Pfizer to solve the problem? Currently, what are the advantages and challenges facing Pfizer's operations in Vietnam?

The pandemic has tested the resilience and agility of health systems, including Vietnam’s, in an unprecedented way. The crisis has not only cast light on strengths and weaknesses of the current system, but also the great solidarity of all actors from both the public and private sectors, the importance of innovation and health security, and that through collaboration, we can achieve great things together.

Pfizer and other innovative pharmaceutical multinationals have had a paramount role in combatting the pandemic, through leveraging years of investment in R&D, and established networks and experience in scaling up manufacturing capability across the world. More than ever, we believe that the innovative industry can play an important role in rebuilding and improving Vietnam’s health system to better address tomorrow’s challenges with sustainable development.

In order to accelerate investment in the pharmaceutical sector, Vietnam should enhance ease of doing business by tackling current issues via the amendment of Pharmacy Law and related regulations to pave the way for development with some specific subjects: (i) shorten the marketing authorization approval timeline, (ii) adopt a regulatory reliance pathway, (iii) remove the administrative burden to help patients quickly access to innovative medicines and vaccines, and (iv) upgrade foreign-invested importers’ scope in an effective operating model that will attract more foreign investments.

Pfizer believes that with strong public private collaboration Vietnam can become a leading player in the biopharmaceutical industry in ASEAN, and Pfizer is committed to Vietnam and the Vietnamese people to making this a reality.

Human resource development in the health and pharmaceutical industries is an important issue in every country. In terms of this, how has Pfizer invested in supporting the government and the health sector in Vietnam?

Last year, Pfizer Vietnam was recognized as the “HR Asia Best Companies to Work For in Asia 2022”. Pfizer won this award by reflecting our core values - Courage, Excellence, Equity, and Joy - in our work environment, and also, by embedding Lightspeed Principles into our culture.

To accompany the preceding purposes and values, Pfizer Vietnam strives to ensure all colleagues reach their full capabilities by unleashing the power of our people, which creates Pfizer's attractiveness as an employer and is also of great interest to potential talent.

We are striving to prioritize our colleagues' work-life balance, encouraging new and empowering flexible ways of working. We remain committed to giving our employees a space and environment in which they can fulfill their potential and achieve personal and professional success. We aspire to unleash the power of our people.