Vietnam is strengthening its position as an emerging life sciences research hub, with growing investment in biotechnology, pharmaceutical innovation and artificial intelligence creating significant opportunities for drug discovery services.
While a dedicated valuation for Vietnam's overall drug discovery services market has not yet been published, industry analysis estimates the sector is currently worth US$85–120 million in 2025 and is projected to reach US$170–240 million by 2030.
Drug discovery services encompass the specialist scientific activities required to identify and develop new medicines before clinical trials begin, including:
- Target identification and validation
- Hit identification and screening
- Lead optimisation
- Medicinal chemistry
- Computational chemistry
- In vitro and in vivo pharmacology
- Drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics (DMPK)
- Toxicology
- Biomarker discovery
- Bioinformatics
- Artificial intelligence-enabled drug discovery
Several structural trends are accelerating market growth across Vietnam:
- Expansion of pharmaceutical and biotechnology research.
- Increasing investment by multinational pharmaceutical companies.
- Growth of contract research organisations (CROs).
- Rising adoption of artificial intelligence and machine learning in drug discovery.
- Expansion of precision medicine and genomic research.
- Government support for biotechnology innovation and life sciences development.
- Growing collaboration between universities, hospitals and pharmaceutical companies.
One of the strongest growth areas is artificial intelligence. According to IMARC Group, Vietnam's AI in Drug Discovery market reached US$9.6 million in 2025 and is projected to expand to US$94.4 million by 2034. AI is increasingly being used to identify therapeutic targets, predict molecular interactions, optimise compound selection and shorten early-stage drug development timelines, helping researchers reduce both cost and time to market.
The country's expanding biotechnology sector is also creating a strong platform for future drug discovery activity. IMARC Group estimates Vietnam's biotechnology market reached US$3.41 billion in 2025 and is forecast to grow to US$8.86 billion by 2034, driven by increasing demand for diagnostics, biologics, genomics and personalised medicine.
Supporting laboratory infrastructure continues to expand. Vietnam's clinical laboratory services market reached US$1.1 billion in 2025, with drug discovery and development-related services identified as one of the key application areas. Investment in laboratory automation, molecular diagnostics, bioanalytical testing and translational research is strengthening Vietnam's capability to support both domestic and international pharmaceutical R&D.
The rapid growth of precision medicine is also increasing demand for drug discovery expertise. Vietnam's precision medicine market reached US$11.6 billion in 2025 and is expected to reach US$17.0 billion by 2034, supported by advances in genomics, bioinformatics, companion diagnostics and targeted therapeutics. These developments are creating new opportunities for discovery services focused on oncology, rare diseases and personalised therapies.
Globally, drug discovery is undergoing profound transformation. Artificial intelligence, high-throughput screening, organoids, CRISPR gene editing, digital biology and advanced computational modelling are enabling researchers to identify promising drug candidates more quickly while improving the probability of clinical success. Pharmaceutical companies are increasingly partnering with specialist CROs and technology providers to access these capabilities and accelerate innovation.
Leading organisations including IQVIA, Charles River Laboratories, Evotec, WuXi AppTec, Syngene International, Eurofins Discovery, Labcorp Drug Development, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Recursion Pharmaceuticals and Schrödinger continue to expand investment in AI-enabled drug discovery, computational chemistry, screening technologies and integrated discovery platforms.
As Vietnam continues to strengthen its pharmaceutical research ecosystem and attract greater investment in biotechnology, drug discovery services are expected to become an increasingly important component of the country's life sciences industry. For CROs, pharmaceutical companies, laboratory technology providers, AI developers, bioinformatics firms and research institutions, Vietnam represents one of Southeast Asia's most promising emerging markets for early-stage pharmaceutical innovation.
