KUALA LUMPUR: ASEAN governments will strengthen supply chain monitoring and domestic manufacturing capabilities to improve resilience against medicine shortages and external supply shocks, said BMI, a unit of Fitch Solutions.
It said that to improve supply chain visibility and mitigate medicine shortages, Malaysia’s Ministry of Health is advocating an ASEAN Medicines Security Dashboard that would provide real-time insights into medicine prices, stock availability, supply chain distribution and regional manufacturing capacity.
"The government has also positioned its domestic requirement for a three-month medicine buffer stock across government healthcare facilities as a potential model for strengthening pharmaceutical preparedness across ASEAN,” it said in a statement.
BMI said Malaysia’s health ministry is also promoting strategic manufacturing alliances and joint investment initiatives to strengthen domestic and regional pharmaceutical manufacturing capabilities, address production gaps, and reduce reliance on imported active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs).
"As ASEAN governments pursue greater pharmaceutical self-reliance and seek to strengthen domestic production capacity, multinational drugmakers will face growing pressure to localise manufacturing, transfer technology and participate in regional manufacturing partnerships to maintain market access,” it said.
However, BMI said that achieving meaningful pharmaceutical self-sufficiency remains a long-term goal for ASEAN, as most member states continue to depend heavily on imported medicines, APIs and foreign technology despite growing political support for localising production.
It said import dependence remains particularly pronounced in Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, where imported medicines account for approximately 42 per cent-44 per cent of pharmaceutical sales.
While governments pursue ambitious localisation goals, including Vietnam’s target of meeting 80 per cent of domestic pharmaceutical demand through local production and Indonesia’s broader push for pharmaceutical independence, progress will likely be gradual, it said.
BMI said limited research and development capabilities and underdeveloped innovation ecosystems will constrain the expansion of higher-value manufacturing activities, while most local production will remain concentrated in generic medicines and formulation.
"As a result, ASEAN will continue to depend on imported innovative therapies despite ongoing efforts to strengthen regional production capacity,” it added. - Bernama
