BioNTech CEO "Will Expand Vaccine Production... Europe Supply by Early Next Year"

"Production Volume According to Basic Plan is 1.3 Billion Doses... Expanded to a Meaningful Level"

Ugur Sahin, CEO of BioNTech
[Photo by Reuters]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the emergency use of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine jointly developed by Pfizer of the United States and BioNTech of Germany, and the companies are now pushing to expand production.

Ugur Sahin, founder and CEO of BioNTech, said in an interview with a foreign media outlet on the 12th (local time), "We need to resolve issues related to production," adding, "It is clear that more vaccine doses are needed. We are reviewing how to further expand production."

The Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine has currently received emergency use authorization in six countries including the United Kingdom, Canada, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, and the United States, and vaccinations have begun. Sahin CEO expects to receive marketing approval from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) by the end of this month and anticipates that vaccine supply to European countries will be possible from early next year.

In September, BioNTech acquired a vaccine production facility in Marburg, western Germany, from the Swiss company Novartis. Sahin CEO expects that once this facility is operational, it will be possible to produce 750 million doses annually, thereby expanding production capacity. BioNTech had initially planned to operate this facility from the first half of next year but is accelerating the schedule, he revealed.

Sahin CEO stated, "The planned production volume is 1.3 billion doses," adding, "We are working to expand this further. We do not yet know how much we can increase production, but we are striving to expand it to a meaningful level."

According to data released this week by Pfizer and BioNTech, individuals who received the first dose of the vaccine showed preventive effects against COVID-19 before receiving the second dose. It was explained that some preventive effects appear 12 days after the first dose. Sahin CEO said, "I was very surprised by this data," adding, "Usually, the immune response significantly increases after receiving the second dose." He also mentioned that they have not yet decided whether to verify the efficacy of a single dose and will discuss this with Pfizer.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.