What’s new: Shanghai- and Hong Kong-listed Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical (Group) Co. Ltd. is set to establish a joint venture with German vaccine-maker BioNTech SE to build an mRNA-based Covid-19 vaccine production base in China, whose annual capacity can reach 200 million doses once phase one is completed, Caixin has learned from sources with knowledge of the matter.
Previously, BioNTech promised to supply at least 100 million doses — enough for 50 million people — to China in 2021. The shots, developed by BioNTech and American drugmaker Pfizer Inc., will likely be kept at facilities including a storage unit in Shanghai. A technician at the unit told Caixin on Wednesday that staff were testing nearly 100 freezers that may be used for storing the vaccine from January 2021.
The mRNA-based shot, which was approved by regulators in the U.K and U.S. this month and became the first Western coronavirus jab to be rolled out to the public, is being produced at BioNTech’s plants in Germany and will be supplied to the Chinese mainland under its partnership with Fosun, subject to local approval, before their joint venture is able to make its own in China.
What’s the background: Fosun has started conducting surveys and accepting pre-registration for the new jab at some Chinese companies, and expects to carry out inoculations in the first quarter of next year, the sources said. It plans to deploy the vaccine at up to 10,000 inoculation centers across the country, they said.
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has strong protective value against the new coronavirus, as shown in clinical trials, and a solid safety profile in some jurisdictions, with experts saying it is also likely to prevent virus transmission, though evidence for that is still pending.
One of the challenges Fosun will face is maintaining the blisteringly cold temperature of minus-70 degrees Celsius needed throughout the supply chain to keep the fragile strands of genetic material that make up the vaccine intact.
Flynn Murphy contributed to this report.
Related: China to Get 100 Million Doses of Pfizer-BioNTech Vaccine
Contact reporter Timmy Shen (hongmingshen@caixin.com) and editor Heather Mowbray (heathermowbray@caixin.com)
