Nam Hyun-woo has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2013, mostly covering business and politics. He currently belongs to the Business Desk where he covers topics such as emerging tech, AI, ICT and Korea's chaebol community. Prior to joining the team, he was the paper's correspondent for the presidential office of Korea during the Yoon Suk Yeol and Moon Jae-in administrations.
Drug makers flock to Korea for contract manufacturing
A GC Pharma employee looks into equipment producing a COVID-19 plasma treatment at the company's plant in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, in this undated file photo. Courtesy of GC Pharma
By Nam Hyun-woo
By Nam Hyun-woo
Korea is emerging as a go-to country for global drug makers seeking the contract manufacture of their COVID-19 vaccines, with major players signing deals reserving production capacity, industry officials said Friday.
According to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), an agreement has been signed with Korea's GC Pharma to reserve vaccine manufacturing capacity as part of its goal to produce 2 billion doses of a COVID-19 vaccine by the end of 2021 for global distribution. CEPI is an alliance to finance and coordinate the development of new vaccines to prevent and contain infectious disease epidemics.
Under the terms of the agreement, GC Pharma will reserve manufacturing capacity for COVID-19 vaccines which will be designated by CEPI from March 2021 to May 2022, with an option to extend or expand the reservation.
During this period, it is estimated that the reserved capacity could produce more than 500 million vaccine doses, CEPI said. Spain's Biofabri will also produce 500 million doses of any vaccine.
CEPI said GC Pharma will manufacture one or more CEPI-supported vaccine candidates. There are nine candidates in CEPI's portfolio and eight of them are at the clinical trial stage. Reportedly, GC Pharma is planning to cover fill and finish processes for the designated vaccine, and yet to set the amount it will be paid.
Following the agreement, GC Pharma will contract manufacture other drug makers' vaccines as well as developing its own plasma treatment for COVID-19.
A week earlier to CEPI's announcement, Russian news outlets reported that the Russian Direct Investment Fund was in talks with unidentified Korean companies to produce the Sputnik V vaccine. The reports quoted Kirill Dmitriev, the head of the sovereign wealth fund, saying “negotiations are in the final stages.”
Due to its capability to start producing vaccines from undiluted solutions, GC Pharma was mentioned as potential producer of Sputnik V along with other Korean drug manufacturers including SK Bioscience, LG Chem, Il-Yang Pharm and Eu Biologics.
Those firms flatly denied involvement in the production of Sputnik V, but officials said there could be deals involving other drug manufacturers here depending on which stage they produce vaccines from.
Months earlier to GC Pharma, SK Bioscience signed deals with AstraZeneca of the U.K. and Novavax of the U.S. to manufacture their COVID-19 vaccine candidates and supply them globally if they clear clinical trials.
Manufacturing will take place at SK Bioscience's plant in Andong, North Gyeongsang Province, which recently more than tripled its production capacity to 500 million doses from the previous 150 million doses.
“For global drug developers, Korean contract manufacturers are considered as the top pick due to their quality control as well as accessibility to the Chinese and other Asian markets,” an official at a domestic drug maker said. “For Korea, the contract manufacturing deals will offer a greater chance for the country to secure vaccines for its people.”