About us
A group built one market at a time
Saifen Drugs began as an API trading company in Hong Kong and became a distribution group by doing the slow thing properly: registering its own entity, hiring its own people and holding its own licences in every country it entered.
From API trading to six territories
The group was established in Hong Kong in 2011, trading active pharmaceutical ingredients between manufacturers in Europe and India and the markets of Southeast Asia. Trading taught the group what actually decides whether a medicine reaches a patient: not the molecule, but the registration dossier, the distribution network and the sales force behind it.
So the group built those three things for itself, market by market. Vietnam came first in 2012 through An Phat, and remains the largest operation. Myanmar followed in 2016, the Philippines in 2018, and in 2023 the group added Portugal — its footing in the European supply base — and India, where its sourcing and manufacturing ambitions now sit.
Today Saifen Drugs is a Hong Kong holding company with an operating entity in each territory, more than six hundred product registrations filed or in progress, and a portfolio weighted toward the therapy areas where launching the first generic genuinely changes what patients pay.
The journey
Twelve years, six markets
Each entry is an operating company the group registered and staffed — not an agency agreement.
2011
Hong Kong
Saifen Drugs (Hong Kong) Limited
The group is established as an API trading company, and registered in Central.
2012
Vietnam
An Phat Co., Ltd.
Distribution into southern and central Vietnam. It becomes the group’s largest market.
2016
Myanmar
Aveda Limited
A Yangon operation covering anti-infectives, cardiovascular and dermatology.
2018
Philippines
Saifen Drugs Philippines Inc.
Registration and distribution out of Ortigas Center, Metro Manila.
2023
Portugal
Saifen Drugs Portugal, Unipessoal Lda
A Lisbon entity, and the group’s footing in the European supply base.
2023
India
Saifen Drugs India Private Limited
Ahmedabad — sourcing, development and the group’s manufacturing ambitions.
Philosophy
What the group is aiming at
Guiding principle
Service before self.
- Mission
- To feature among the top three distribution companies in each country we operate in.
- Vision
- To provide affordable medication by launching the first generic in the market.
Core values
Seven values, held to in every market
The same seven expectations apply in every entity the group operates, from Yangon to Lisbon.
- Customer service
- The customer’s need comes first — the principle the Managing Director opens every review with.
- Innovation
- First generics, novel chemical entities and new drug delivery systems, ahead of the competition.
- Honesty
- Registrations, claims and commitments a health authority can hold us to.
- Performance
- On-time launches and the least variation after commercialisation.
- Intelligence
- Market research that shortlists products with real potential before a dossier is filed.
- Teamwork
- Regulatory, sales and distribution working as one team in each country.
- Leadership
- The aim in every market is the top three — nothing less.
The longer version
The film, and the full profile
Two minutes of the group on film, and the twenty-four page company profile the sales teams work from — the same document these pages are built on.
Company profile
History, the six territories, the four service pillars, the portfolio by therapy area, the partner list and Vision 2036 — in full.
PDF · 24 pages · 3.6 MB
Download the profileMeet the people behind the group
Four international heads run sourcing, sales, and regulatory affairs across six territories.