Sinovac Biotech has agreed with Indonesia-based PT Bio Farma to facilitate the supply, local production and technology licensing of its inactivated Covid-19 vaccine candidate, CoronaVac.
Under the terms of the agreements, Sinovac will provide Bio Farma with the bulk vaccine, enabling it to manufacture a minimum of 40 million doses of CoronaVac in Indonesia by March 2021.
The company will also continue to supply the required amounts of its bulk vaccine candidate to Bio Farma after March 2021, until the end of 2021.
Sinovac said that its agreements with Bio Farma indicate its commitment to developing and supplying vaccines against Covid-19 for global use at lowered prices.
Also, the company identified Indonesia as one of the countries with technology licensing and local production enabled for its potential Covid-19 vaccine CoronaVac.
Bio Farma is evaluating CoronaVac in Phase 3 clinical trial in Indonesia
Bio Farma is currently evaluating Sinovac’s CoronaVac in Phase 3 clinical trial in Bandung, Indonesia. The clinical study would provide Indonesia with early access of CoronaVac without compromise in safety standards and procedures, said the company.
The collaboration between Sinovac and Bio Farma is not only limited to the development, production and technology licensing of the Covid-19 vaccine, but also for biopharmaceuticals in the future.
Sinovac Biotech is a Chinese biopharmaceutical firm focused on the research, development, manufacturing and commercialisation of vaccines against infectious diseases in humans.
The company’s product pipeline includes vaccines against enterovirus71 (EV71), hepatitis A and B, seasonal influenza, Quadrivalent Influenza vaccine (QIV), H5N1 pandemic influenza (avian flu), H1N1 influenza (swine flu), varicella vaccine and mumps.
In 2016, Sinovac has commercialised its EV71 vaccine, an advanced vaccine against hand foot and mouth disease caused by EV71 in China.
The company has supplied its H1N1 influenza vaccine to the Chinese Government’s vaccination campaign and stockpiling programme, after receiving the regulatory approval in 2009.
Furthermore, the company is developing various new products including a Sabin-strain inactivated polio vaccine, pneumococcal polysaccharides vaccine, and a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine.
