An assessment of the regional vaccine manufacturing ecosystem across the region, the structural risks to its long-term viability, and targeted recommendations to strengthen it
Across Southeast Asia, there is genuine will to build a regional vaccine manufacturing base that can supply countries in the region and respond quickly when the next health crisis arrives. Manufacturers exist, investments have been made, and political support is growing. But turning that momentum into a ‘fit-for-purpose’ manufacturing footprint is a different challenge entirely. ASEAN — the ten-country bloc that includes Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and others — has no unified procurement system and no shared regulatory framework. A manufacturer trying to sell across the region is navigating ten different sets of regulations, which makes cross-border supply slow, costly, and structurally difficult even where the manufacturing capacity exists.
An estimated 60 to 90 percent of the region’s capacity sits with a single manufacturer. While a strong regional asset, this concentration leaves the ecosystem exposed to supply security risks during manufacturing disruptions, regulatory bottlenecks, or sudden demand surges like a pandemic. Most other manufacturers supply primarily to their domestic markets, limited to fill and finish of vaccines and dependent on active ingredients sourced from outside the region. Additionally, the differences in regulatory requirements across ten member states make it slow and expensive for manufacturers to sell across borders — even when they have the capacity to do so.
This whitepaper, commissioned by the Regionalized Vaccine Manufacturing Collaborative (RVMC) and jointly developed with CHAI, maps what is working, what is not, and what needs to happen next. Drawing on direct engagement with manufacturers, financiers, and regional partners across Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Indonesia, it proposes a practical strategy for building a manufacturing ecosystem that is resilient, commercially sustainable, and ready to respond when it matters most.
