K-Vaccine to the World... GW Biotech Signs MOU with Zimbabwe Company for Vaccine Sales

JW Biotech announced on the 21st that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Zimbabwe TD HOLDINGS for vaccine sales.

The signing ceremony was attended by key officials including JW Biotech CEO Yang Jae-won, Gideon Gono, Chairman of Zimbabwe TD HOLDINGS, and Chaurai Muzanenhamo Kanyepe, CEO, among others.

(From left) Yang Jaewon, CEO of GW Biotech, Gideon Gono, Chairman of TD HOLDINGS, and Kim Seungil, CEO of Curable, are taking a commemorative photo after signing the MOU agreement. / Photo by 제공

This MOU marks the first case of pioneering K-vaccine market expansion as the technology transfer of the inactivated vaccine from Russia's Chumakov Institute nears completion. TD HOLDINGS submitted a Letter of Intent (LOI) to purchase 1.5 million doses of JW Biotech's CoviHill vaccine. In addition, both companies agreed to spare no effort in cooperating globally by establishing a joint venture for vaccine sales and development.

According to the company, this MOU serves as an opportunity to support vaccine supply to developing countries and African nations with insufficient vaccine infrastructure and to establish a supply base for the CoviHill vaccine in Africa. JW Biotech is currently discussing vaccine sales with various countries in the African region beyond Zimbabwe and plans to expand its overseas presence. Furthermore, it explained that this will be a starting point for the K-Bio industry to become more active overseas in response to the government's 'Bio 2.0 policy' to foster and support the bio industry.

TD HOLDINGS, which signed the agreement with JW Biotech, is a leading company in Zimbabwe's basic infrastructure industries in Africa, including mineral and water supply businesses, real estate projects for urban environment improvement, and large-scale poultry farming. Gideon Gono served as the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe for 18 years and is currently an important figure in politics and business, holding positions as the Chairman of the Zimbabwe Investment Authority and the Central Bank.

Earlier, in May last year, JW Biotech signed a four-party contract for the manufacturing consignment of the COVID-19 vaccine with Pharma Biotech Global (PBTG), the Vaccine Global Industrialization Foundation Animal Cell Demonstration Support Center, and Curable. Subsequently, the Chumakov Institute provided approximately 15,000 pages of technology transfer documents, including technical documents for production processes in Korea, to Pharma Biotech Global, the Korean-Russian joint venture leading CoviHill. Starting with the first visit of the Chumakov research team to Korea in November last year, both countries completed a gap analysis of experimental equipment and successfully cultured Vero cells, which form the basis for inactivated vaccine production. Following this, a series of processes for vaccine technology transfer were completed, including multiple QC verifications on vaccine stability, and production is scheduled to begin this November.

JW Biotech CEO Yang Jae-won said, “This strategic agreement is significant because the vaccine purchase letter of intent was delivered directly from Africa to Korea,” adding, “The synergy created by our K-vaccine technology and the local vaccine demand and infrastructure in Zimbabwe will be recognized as a successful example of global partnership.”

Meanwhile, JW Biotech announced in February that it is entering the green bio market and will pursue businesses including ▲improving crop production efficiency and feed additives ▲CA Bio ▲livestock and aquaculture products ▲natural material-derived health supplements ▲animal-use CBD. It also stated that it will maintain a cooperative relationship in the green bio business by forming a strategic partnership with TD HOLDINGS, with which it signed the MOU, not only in the vaccine business but also in future new businesses such as the mineral sector and distribution of scientific and medical devices.

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