Kang Seung-woo is the Business Desk editor at The Korea Times. Prior to this position, he covered politics, national affairs, finance and sports.
Moon discusses vaccine cooperation with Novavax CEO
President Moon Jae-in poses with Novavax CEO Stanley Erck during the latter's visit to Cheong Wa Dae, Tuesday. Joint Press Corps
By Kang Seung-woo
By Kang Seung-woo
President Moon Jae-in met Novavax CEO Stanley Erck, Tuesday, to discuss vaccine cooperation between Korea and the U.S. biotechnology company, including the supply of its coronavirus vaccine here and the expansion of their vaccine production partnership, according to Cheong Wa Dae.
Their in-person meeting at Moon's office came three months after the two held a video conversation in January, during which they agreed to produce 40 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine for the nation through Korean contract manufacturer SK Bioscience.
The meeting also comes as the Korean government is going all out to secure as many vaccines as possible amid mounting concerns over supply challenges and slow progress of the vaccination program in the wake of the fourth coronavirus wave.
“Korean people have high hopes for the Novavax vaccine as it showed solid immunological effects in clinical trials ― in particular against the U.K. and South African coronavirus variants,” Moon said during the meeting.
The President also said the vaccine carried extra significance given that it will be manufactured locally, pledging the nation's full support for uninterrupted production including securing raw materials for vaccines and an early use of the vaccine.
According to presidential spokeswoman Park Kyung-mee, President Moon told Erck that the government will set up a team in charge of assessing the Novavax vaccine at the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety for rapid approval of the vaccine.
In February, SK Bioscience and Novavax reached a licensing agreement, under which the Korean company exclusively holds the rights to manufacture, market and sell the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine here via a technology transfer.
Erck arrived here, Monday, and inspected SK's production facilities in Andong, North Gyeongsang Province. The contract manufacturer, the vaccine-making arm of SK Group, has also won a consignment deal to produce AstraZeneca's vaccines for local consumption.
The Novavax jab has been regarded as the safest vaccine as it takes a more traditional approach to vaccine development than the never-before-used mRNA technology that Pfizer and Moderna rely on, which has a lot more unknowns in terms of side effects.
In that sense, the government hopes the Novavax vaccine will help accelerate the nation's vaccination rate, which currently remains at 3.2 percent since beginning in February due to concerns over the safety of AstraZeneca, following the occurrence of unusual blood clots in some recipients.
The Novavax vaccine is waiting for U.S. and British authorizations, which are expected to be won in the second quarter of the year. Upon receiving those approvals, the Korean health authorities are also likely to follow suit.
According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, SK Bioscience will be able to start manufacturing the Novavax vaccine as early as June, with a plan to produce enough to inoculate 10 million people by the end of the third quarter and 20 million by the year-end.
Earlier in the day, the Novavax CEO also met with the government's vaccine taskforce members to discuss the issue of supplying raw and auxiliary materials for production.
“The government plans to extend the licensing deal with Novavax until next year to ensure a stable supply of the vaccine for local consumption,” Health Minister Kwon Deok-cheol, who heads the interagency taskforce, said during a briefing.
Korea is seeking to immunize 12 million people in the first half of the year and 36 million by September with a goal of achieving herd immunity by November.
Last week, the government announced that it has signed a deal with Pfizer to bring in an additional 40 million doses, with the nation's totals reaching 192 million doses ― from Moderna, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson's, Novavax and Pfizer ― enough for 99 million people, an amount just short of double its 52-million population.
Meanwhile, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, the country reported 512 new COVID-19 cases for Monday, including 477 local infections.