President Moon Meets with CureVac CEO from Germany: "Please Prioritize South Korea as Asia-Pacific Production Hub" (Comprehensive)

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] On the 15th (local time), President Moon Jae-in held a video meeting with Franz Werner Haas, CEO of CureVac, in Vienna, Austria, urging the strengthening of vaccine cooperation and requesting that South Korea be given priority as a production hub in the Asia-Pacific region.

CureVac is a company developing mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines as well as second-generation vaccines capable of responding to variant viruses.

At the meeting, President Moon said, "According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 11 billion doses of vaccines are needed this year, but the current supply volume from companies falls far short of this reality," adding, "CureVac's excellent vaccines need to be supplied quickly not only in Europe but also in the Asia-Pacific region, and I ask that South Korea be given priority as a production hub in the Asia-Pacific region in the future."

President Moon also emphasized, "South Korea takes pride in the high quality of its vaccines, the rapid expansion of production volume, and its commitment to equitable supply worldwide," and stated, "The combination of CureVac's outstanding mRNA technology and South Korea's high-quality, safe, and reliable production infrastructure will accelerate the end of COVID-19 worldwide."

President Moon said, "I hope to make good use of the capabilities of such Korean companies," and added, "The Korean government will spare no administrative support, including support for expanding raw materials and production facilities through the Global Vaccine Hub Promotion Task Force (TF)."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Last weekend, President Moon met with Chancellor Merkel at the G7 Summit and introduced the agreement for cooperation between Germany, a leading country in vaccine development, and South Korea, which has strengths in vaccine production, emphasizing that South Korea is pursuing the establishment of a global vaccine hub. He also wished for the success of CureVac's mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine development.

In response, CEO Haas agreed with the excellence of South Korea's vaccine production capabilities and expressed interest and support for the global vaccine hub policy.

CEO Haas said, "Since 29 variant viruses have already emerged and viruses spread beyond borders, it is necessary to develop a comprehensive network of pharmaceutical companies worldwide beyond Germany and Europe," adding, "South Korea has many top-tier pharmaceutical companies, so there is much room for cooperation."

Taking this meeting as an opportunity, South Korea and CureVac recognized the importance of vaccine cooperation and plan to continue discussions for ongoing collaboration. President Moon said, "The government of the Republic of Korea is mobilizing all its capabilities to overcome COVID-19 as soon as possible," and added, "To this end, we will actively cooperate with all countries around the world, including Germany."

Minister of Health and Welfare Kwon Deok-cheol and CureVac Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) Antony Blanc attended the meeting via video call.

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