China to Begin Domestic Production of Overseas Vaccines as Early as July

BioNTech and Pushing Pharma Vaccine Approval Imminent... Production and Ultra-Low Temperature Transport Training Conducted
Pfizer Vaccine Effectively Technology-Transferred via German Pharma Company... 100 Million Doses to Be Produced by Year-End

[Asia Economy Beijing=Special Correspondent Jo Young-shin] The COVID-19 vaccine jointly developed by Germany's BioNTech and China's Fosun Pharma will be produced in China as early as July. This is the first time that China has approved and produced a foreign vaccine on the mainland. The two companies signed a contract at the end of last year to produce 100 million doses.

China's state-run Global Times reported on the 23rd that approval for the vaccine (BNT162b2) jointly developed by BioNTech and Fosun Pharma is imminent. The outlet stated that there is a high possibility of approval from authorities before July, and that pre-practice for production and ultra-low temperature transportation is currently underway. Citing sources, the Global Times added that more than 100 ultra-low temperature freezers for storing the vaccine are prepared in Shanghai's Pudong New Area, and several ultra-low temperature transportation drills have been conducted.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The media reported that the day before, Li Qiang, Party Secretary of Shanghai, during a video conference with Ugur Sahin, CEO of BioNTech, said, "We (China) welcome BioNTech" and requested, "Please strengthen vaccine cooperation to contribute to protecting the lives, safety, and health of the people."

Chinese health authorities expect that once the BioNTech vaccine is produced and administered in China, the country's vaccine pool will expand and mutual recognition of vaccines between countries can be promoted.

Xiao Yiming, a researcher at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, predicted, "Considering the efficacy of mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid) vaccines, a path for sequential mixed vaccinations may open in the future."

Germany's BioNTech jointly developed the so-called 'Pfizer vaccine' with the American pharmaceutical company Pfizer. Chinese media describe this vaccine as a foreign vaccine jointly developed with Fosun Pharma, but it appears to be a technology transfer in practice.

The vaccine jointly developed by BioNTech and Fosun Pharma was previously granted emergency use approval by Hong Kong health authorities in January, and Fosun Pharma has agreed to supply a total of 7.5 million doses to Hong Kong.

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