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The Chinese Sinovac Biotech has obtained 515 million dollars in financing from a local company.
China’s Sinovac Biotech has secured $ 515 million in funding from a local company to double the production capacity of its coronavirus vaccine, the companies said Monday, as they await efficacy data from their experimental injection this month.
The investment deal also comes as Sinovac expands supply agreements and trials of its COVID-19 experimental vaccine, CoronaVac, with more countries following positive results from early to mid-stage clinical trials.
Sino Biopharmaceutical Limited of China said on Monday that a business unit will invest $ 515 million in Sinovac Life Sciences, a subsidiary of Sinovac, to help the development and production of CoronaVac.
The investment will give Sino Biopharmaceutical a 15.03% stake in Sinovac Life Sciences, Sino Biopharmaceutical said in a statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
Sinovac said in a separate statement that it could manufacture 300 million doses of vaccines a year and aims to complete construction of a second production facility by the end of 2020 to increase the annual production capacity of the COVID-19 vaccine to 600 million. dose.
Depending on market conditions and the availability of financing, it could look to further expand its production capacity, Sinovac said.
Sinovac has secured CoronaVac supply agreements with several countries, including Indonesia, Turkey, Brazil and Chile, and is in talks with the Philippines for a possible sale.
CoronaVac is also one of three experimental COVID-19 vaccines that China has been using to inoculate around 1 million people under an emergency use program.
The Brazilian Butantan Institute biomedical center, which is running a phase 3 trial of CoronaVac in the country, said last week that Sinovac was expected to publish the efficacy results of its vaccine trials by December 15.
