Graphic published in The Global Times
Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Industry Development has agreed to set up a USD200 million joint-venture with Germany’s BioNTech to make coronavirus vaccines. The Chinese company will contribute up to USD100 million in assets, including cash and a manufacturing facility, capable of producing up to a billion doses a year. The joint venture will be owned 50% by each company. The 15-year joint venture will be incorporated in Shanghai. BioNTech will contribute assets such as “licensing of the relevant manufacturing technology and know-how,” it said. BioNTech and Pfizer are jointly commercializing the vaccine worldwide, excluding in China, Macao, Hong Kong and Taiwan. BioNTech and Fosun Pharma have done clinical trials in China but the vaccine has yet to be granted approval in the country. BioNTech also plans to set up a regional center and a new factory in Singapore, boosting its presence in Asia.
Co-production of Chinese vaccines is to start in several countries. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has already started distribution of the Hayat-Vax vaccine, a joint collaboration between Sinopharm and G42. Egypt said it will start locally producing the Sinovac vaccine in June. “To rein in the Covid-19 pandemic, the biggest challenge is to ensure sufficient supply of vaccines to all countries,” said Pearson Liu, Senior Brand Director and Spokesman for Sinovac. Feng Duojia, Chairman of the China Association for Vaccines, said that localized production of the vaccines could significantly improve the quantity and efficiency of the vaccine supply while reducing costs, as well as boosting local vaccine industries and improving public health systems.
Sinopharm is expanding the production capacity to five billion doses per year. The company has produced more than 400 million doses and more than 200 million doses have been supplied at home and abroad. Sinopharm is working on the construction and expansion of vaccine-producing plants, and cooperating with foreign countries to make vaccines overseas, according to Sinopharm Chairman Liu Jingzhen. More than 100 countries and international organizations have expressed interest in Sinopharm's vaccines, said Yang Xiaoming, Chairman of Sinopharm China National Biotec Group (CNBG), a Sinopharm subsidiary. The vaccines have been registered for market access or approved for emergency use by 80 countries, regions and international organizations. The combined annual capacity of the Sinovac and Sinopharm vaccines is expected to reach 3 billion doses this year.
Chinese vaccine manufacturers are now adapting their vaccines to be effective against the Indian variant. Sinovac, whose Covid-19 vaccine is being used in more than 30 countries, is studying different mutations and an updated vaccine suitable for these mutations could be produced in 10 weeks at the quickest after the company cultivates the mutated strain successfully. With a mature vaccine pipeline in place, future production of vaccines will be much faster, Sinovac Spokesperson Liu Peicheng said, noting that Sinovac has been using its vaccine on a large scale in Brazil, Chile and in areas where it has found mutated strains, and has seen good protection against the virus. The original version of the inactivated vaccine may offer slightly less protection against mutant strains, but a third dose of the updated vaccine on top of the previous two shots will provide much greater protection, Shanghai-based vaccine expert Tao Lina said.
Mexico plans to start a late-stage clinical trial on May 30 for a Covid-19 vaccine candidate developed by China using similar mRNA technology as Moderna and Pfizer. The phase 3 trial of the vaccine developed by China’s Walvax Biotechnology will involve 6,000 volunteers. Walvax is working with the Academy of Military Sciences and Suzhou Abogen Biosciences to jointly develop the shot known as ARCoV or ARCoVax, China’s first mRNA vaccine to enter phase 3 trials. The shot could be stored at 2º to 8ºC for six months, a lower temperature than shots from Western rivals. Mexico has already received vaccines from Sinovac Biotech and CanSino Biologics, and also plans to order shots from Sinopharm.
Anhui province identified 7 new confirmed Covid-19 cases, all related to a training session at a photo studio in the city of Lu’an. The source is a patient who traveled from Yingkou in Liaoning province, where 13 confirmed cases were detected. None of the confirmed cases had been vaccinated. Nine residential communities and villages in Yingkou have been upgraded to medium-risk areas for Covid-19 and put under closed-off management. China had administered over 407 million doses as of May 16, reaching an inoculation rate of around 23%. The number of daily administered doses was close to 14 million on May 16, marking the highest daily vaccination rate so far. Prior to the latest vaccination drive, the inoculation rates of both Anhui and Liaoning provinces, at 7.3% and 8.4%, respectively, were far below the national average. More than 79% of Beijing's population aged 18 and above have received their first dose. The full two-dose vaccination rate for Beijing is 63.8%, while that for Shanghai is 41.3%.
This overview is based on reporting by the China Daily, Shanghai Daily and Global Times.
