LS&HC Horizons 2023 - Flipbook - Page 57
Hogan Lovells | 2023 Life Sciences and Health Care Horizons | APAC
57
Conducting life sciences investigations in Vietnam
With almost 100 million people, Vietnam has
the third-largest population in Southeast Asia
after Indonesia and the Philippines and the
ninth largest across Asia. This large population
relies upon fewer than 1,500 hospitals, the
majority of which (approx. 80%) are state-run.
Vietnam is an attractive market for the life
sciences and health care sector, particularly
with a growing middle-class and an aging
population. The country has not introduced
national tenders and price controls in public
sector health care organizations, although
there are signs that may change. The influx
of multinational companies intersecting
with (foreign) public officials in the shape
of doctors and state-employees is a high-risk
potion. These conditions are being monitored
and actively investigated by domestic and
international regulators.
In the past two years, there has been
nationwide domestic enforcement centring
on bid-rigging and breaches of public tenders.
Senior doctors from major hospitals have been
prosecuted and sentenced. U.S. regulators
almost annually announce an enforcement
action relating to Vietnam, and the health care
sector is a constant focus. One of the world’s
Peter S. Spivack
Partner, Washington, D.C.
largest pharmaceutical companies resolved a
Department of Justice (DOJ) and Securities
and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigation
in 2020 with a nine-figure settlement, a portion
of which related to the conduct of a subsidiary’s
distributor’s efforts to increase sales of
intraocular lenses in Vietnam.
With a new Vietnamese Minister of Health
in mid-2022, our Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh
City offices are witnessing an uptick in audits
necessitating compliance in even the most
routine of requirements.
Our counsel is for clients to: focus on their
third-party engagements, particularly when
local distributors remain required as the sales
channel to hospitals; dedicate compliance
resources to Vietnam; and conduct thorough
due diligence when entering into, or expanding
operations. With great opportunity, comes
great (risk) responsibility.
Khushaal Ved
Senior Associate, Singapore