Vietnam pharma giant Bidiphar seeks foreign strategic partners since 2018

Vietnamese pharma major Binh Dinh Pharmaceutical Medical Equipment JSC (Bidiphar) has been on the lookout for foreign strategic partners to finance its projects ever since it went public in 2018.

Listed on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange as DBD, Bidiphar had announced a foreign ownership cap of up to 100% in 2020.

Its board of directors planned to issue 18.7 million shares in 2023 and 23.3 million shares in 2024 to a maximum of five investors via private placement, with each share priced at VND50,000 ($1.96). However, this plan has not been implemented yet, meaning that the search for suitable strategic partners continues.

After the inauguration of a VND500 billion ($19.64 million) cancer drug plant at the Nhon Hoi economic zone in the central province of Binh Dinh last December, the firm had said it intended to upgrade it to GMP-EU standards in 2025-2026.

It also announced plans to complete the building of a VND840 billion ($33 million) small-volume parenteral factory in Nhon Hoi by 2026. Construction of the building began late last year.

Bidiphar has also begun work on a VND870 billion ($34.18 million) solid non-betalactam oral drug factory in Nhon Hoi. The first phase of this project is set to become operational in 2029 with an annual capacity of 500 million products. Work on the second phase will begin after 2029, expanding annual output to 1.3 billion products.

Furthermore, the firm has diversified into the real estate sector, but this venture has fallen short of expectations.

In 2020, Bidiphar initiated a VND35 billion ($1.37 million) rental office project on 34 Ngo May street, Quy Nhon town, Binh Dinh province. In 2022, it raised the project’s capital to VND55 billion ($2.16 million).

The project was scheduled to complete investment procedures in the fourth quarter of 2023 and become operational in Q2/2025. However, the site has been left on the shelf with very little money disbursed to date.

Besides, in 2021, the company planned to spend VND45 billion ($1.77 million) on buying land to build offices and/or warehouses for its branches in Ho Chi Minh City, the central city of Danang and the southern province of Tien Giang. However, the HCMC office building project has been stalled because the site is reportedly located on land marked for municipal projects.