JW Pharmaceutical said that it has taken over Euvipharm, a Vietnamese pharmaceutical company, as part of its strategy to target pharmerging markets. The company did not disclose the amount of the acquisition fee.

Euvipharm, founded in 2005, operates a pharmaceutical plant with modern production facilities in Vietnam. Valeant, Canada's largest pharmaceutical company, acquired the company in 2013.

The company's plant, which has a total floor area of 35,000 square meters, is the largest in Vietnam and received good manufacturing practice approval from the World Health Organization. The plant can produce 1.9 billion medicine products annually.

"Korean companies acquired equity shares of Vietnamese pharmaceutical companies or built a plant in the country, but this is the first time that a local company has acquired the entire equity of a Vietnamese pharmaceutical company and operates it directly," the company said.

Recently, the Southeast Asian drug market, such as Vietnam, is growing at a rapid pace, it added. “In exporting domestically produced drugs, however, it was difficult to enter the market due to problems such as drug rating system and price competitiveness,” the company said.

JW's strategy is to make a full-scale entry into the pharmerging market, including Vietnam and other ASEAN countries, through the acquisition of Euvipharm.

To achieve its goal, the company will sequentially transfer production and quality control technologies, including JW's differentiated formulation research capabilities, to Euvipharm and apply for a pharmaceutical inspection co-operation scheme (PIC/S) certification. The company will also conduct a contract manufacturing business through Euvipharm.

"This acquisition has enabled us to secure a large-scale plant with advanced technology and modern equipment in the emerging manufacturing powerhouse of Vietnam," JW Pharmaceutical CEO Shin Yeong-seop said. "We will try to spread the JW brand in the global market, starting with Vietnam."