Vietnam is emerging as one of Southeast Asia's most promising developing clinical-research markets as pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies seek new locations for clinical development, patient recruitment and outsourced research services.
According to Ken Research, the Vietnam Clinical Trial Management Market was worth US$47.9 million in 2025 and is forecast to reach US$124.3 million by 2030 and US$148.3 million by 2031.
The opportunity encompasses a broad range of specialist clinical-development services, including:
- Clinical trial management and monitoring
- Site identification and activation
- Patient recruitment and retention
- Regulatory affairs
- Data management
- Biostatistics
- Pharmacovigilance
- Medical writing
- Laboratory coordination and biomarker testing
- Electronic data capture
- Risk-based and remote monitoring
- Decentralised clinical-trial technologies
Vietnam has significant room to grow
Vietnam remains a comparatively underdeveloped clinical-trial market relative to its population and healthcare needs.
Ken Research estimates that Vietnam recorded approximately 36 new clinical-trial starts in 2025, supported by around 22 sites with recurring GCP-capable trial operations. Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City dominate activity, together accounting for an estimated 78% of commercial clinical-trial site activity.
This means Vietnam currently trails more established Southeast Asian clinical-research markets. Ken estimates 2025 clinical-trial management revenues of approximately US$162 million in Thailand, US$155 million in Singapore and US$132 million in Malaysia, compared with Vietnam's US$47.9 million.
But that gap also illustrates Vietnam's potential.
With a population exceeding 100 million, significant disease burden, competitive operating costs and increasing pharmaceutical investment, Vietnam has many of the underlying characteristics required to attract a greater share of multinational clinical research.
Oncology is expected to be one of the most important drivers of future clinical-trial activity.
Vietnam's increasing cancer burden creates significant requirements for innovative treatments while providing pharmaceutical companies with potential patient populations for multinational clinical studies.
Ken Research identifies oncology, infectious diseases, cardiovascular disorders, metabolic disease, respiratory medicine and vaccines among the strongest areas for Vietnam's future trial pipeline.
A broader Vietnam Clinical Trials & CRO study similarly identifies oncology as the country's largest therapeutic segment, accounting for approximately 28% of market revenue, while Phase III studies represent around 42% of revenues.
CROs become increasingly important
Contract Research Organisations are central to this expansion.
Pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies increasingly outsource elements—or sometimes virtually the entire management—of clinical trials to specialist CROs.
International CROs active in or serving Vietnam include IQVIA, Parexel, ICON, PPD/Thermo Fisher Scientific, SGS and other international and domestic clinical-research organisations.
Vietnam's growing CRO ecosystem creates opportunities not only for trial management but for specialist businesses providing regulatory services, laboratories, logistics, patient recruitment, data management, pharmacovigilance and clinical technology.
Digital clinical trials transform the market
Technology is also changing how clinical trials are conducted.
Only around 18% of Vietnam's clinical trials were digitally enabled in 2025, according to Ken Research. Increasing adoption of electronic data capture, electronic trial master files, clinical-trial management systems, remote monitoring, electronic consent and recruitment analytics therefore provides considerable room for growth.
Artificial intelligence could accelerate this further.
AI is increasingly being used internationally to identify suitable trial participants, select clinical sites, analyse medical records, optimise protocols and identify potential safety signals.
Decentralised and hybrid clinical trials are also allowing some elements of clinical research to move beyond traditional hospital sites, incorporating remote monitoring, connected medical devices, electronic patient-reported outcomes and home-based data collection.
Laboratory services become more sophisticated
Increasing trial complexity is creating additional opportunities for Vietnam's laboratory sector.
Modern oncology, immunology and precision-medicine trials can require genomic sequencing, biomarker testing, flow cytometry, immunohistochemistry, molecular diagnostics and specialised bioanalysis.
Vietnam's wider Clinical Laboratory Services Market was already worth US$1.1 billion in 2025 and is forecast to reach US$1.9 billion by 2034. IMARC specifically identifies preclinical and clinical-trial-related services among the market's applications.
This creates an increasingly interconnected ecosystem between clinical research, diagnostics, genomics, pathology and laboratory technology.
KPMG identifies much greater potential
Perhaps the most significant evidence of Vietnam's long-term opportunity comes from KPMG and Pharma Group's Roadmap to the Future of Clinical Trials in Vietnam.
The study identifies several constraints currently preventing Vietnam from reaching its potential, including lengthy approval processes, limited research infrastructure, shortages of specialised clinical-research personnel, insufficient funding mechanisms and a lack of strong incentives for international investment. KPMG reports that clinical-trial approvals can currently take 6–12 months and identifies only around 40 GCP-certified sites nationwide under its broader site definition.
If those barriers remain, KPMG estimates that the market's development will be comparatively modest.
But if Vietnam successfully streamlines regulation, expands investigator training, increases GCP-certified facilities and strengthens its clinical-trial units and CRO ecosystem, the opportunity changes dramatically.
KPMG estimates that Vietnam could reach 86 clinical trials by 2029, with a potential market value of US$259.2 million under its middle-case scenario and as much as US$749.5 million under its high-growth scenario.
That suggests Vietnam's clinical-trial opportunity is not simply about organic market growth—it is closely linked to how successfully the country can develop the infrastructure and regulatory environment needed to compete for international studies.
A growing opportunity for the life sciences ecosystem
Growth in clinical trials creates commercial opportunities extending well beyond pharmaceutical companies and CROs.
The ecosystem requires clinical laboratories, diagnostic companies, cold-chain logistics, investigational-product supply, medical devices, patient-recruitment technologies, data platforms, eClinical systems, pharmacovigilance, biostatistics and specialist consultancy services.
As Vietnam strengthens its pharmaceutical, biotechnology and healthcare infrastructure, clinical research could therefore become an increasingly important part of the country's wider life-sciences economy.
With the core services market forecast to rise from US$47.9 million in 2025 to US$148.3 million by 2031, and KPMG identifying substantially greater upside if structural barriers are addressed, Vietnam represents an emerging clinical-research market with significant potential for pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology businesses, CROs, laboratories and clinical-technology providers.
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