Orion Holdings Signs MOU for Tuberculosis Vaccine Technology Transfer with Vaccine Specialist Curatis

Heo In-cheol, Vice Chairman and CEO of Orion Holdings (left), and Jo Gwan-gu, CEO of Curatis, are taking a commemorative photo at the signing ceremony of the 'Tuberculosis Vaccine Technology Introduction MOU.' (Photo by Orion Holdings)

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] Orion Holdings announced on the 23rd that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the domestic vaccine specialist company ‘Curatis’ to acquire technology for tuberculosis vaccines for adolescents and adults.

Through this MOU, Orion Holdings will expand its Chinese pharmaceutical and bio business from the diagnostic kit sector to the vaccine field.

Orion Holdings plans to introduce Curatis’ tuberculosis vaccine technology for adolescents and adults through a joint venture established in China in March, and will promote clinical trials and regulatory approval within China to commercialize the tuberculosis vaccine in the Chinese market. Curatis will be responsible for development and technical support for clinical trials in China.

Both companies also agreed to share the clinical trial costs for the tuberculosis vaccine in China equally at 50% each. Additionally, Orion Holdings plans to build its own production facilities through the joint venture and sell locally with the support of its Chinese partner, the state-owned pharmaceutical company Shandong Lukang Pharmaceutical. Curatis intends to continuously cooperate in tuberculosis vaccine production and sales by transferring production know-how to the joint venture.

Currently, the only commercially available tuberculosis vaccine worldwide is BCG, which is targeted at infants and young children; there are no tuberculosis vaccines for adolescents and adults after infancy. China has approximately 350 million latent tuberculosis carriers, and the number of elderly tuberculosis patients is expected to increase rapidly due to aging. Given that Chinese authorities have designated pulmonary tuberculosis as a key infectious disease for management, interest in tuberculosis prevention is high, and the market potential for tuberculosis vaccines is also expected to be significant.

Curatis is recognized as a global vaccine specialist company leading domestic vaccine self-sufficiency and is considered the most advanced in commercializing adult tuberculosis vaccines. Curatis secured excellent results in terms of vaccine safety and immunogenicity in domestic Phase 2a (small-scale patient trial) for adults and Phase 1 clinical trials for adolescents, and plans to conduct global late-stage clinical trials in five Asian countries in the second half of this year. It is also highly regarded for vaccine production technology, including contract manufacturing of Russia’s COVID-19 vaccine ‘Sputnik V’.

In March, Orion Holdings completed the establishment of a joint venture with Shandong Lukang Pharmaceutical to enter the Chinese bio business, laying the foundation for entering the Chinese pharmaceutical and bio market worth 160 trillion KRW. It is currently preparing to sign a main contract for technology acquisition of the colorectal cancer diagnostic kit from the bio-diagnostic specialist company ‘Genomictree’ and is also in the process of signing an agency contract to promote clinical trials in China.

Heo In-cheol, Vice Chairman of Orion Holdings, said, “Through the partnership with Curatis, we have expanded our pharmaceutical and bio business area from diagnostic kits to vaccines. We will successfully advance the bio business, a new growth engine for the group, and faithfully serve as a platform that contributes to the growth of the domestic bio industry by introducing Korea’s excellent bio technology to the Chinese local market.”

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