Korea signs agreement with AstraZeneca for COVID vaccine

Vials labelled "COVID-19 / Coronavirus vaccine / Injection only" and a syringe in front of an AstraZeneca logo in this Oct. 31 illustration / Reuters-Yonhap

By Kim Yoo-chul

The government has signed an agreement with AstraZeneca to secure 25 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine, two sources directly involved with the matter said Monday. They said SK Bioscience would handle the manufacture of the vaccine, known as AZD1222, for domestic distribution.

According to the sources, the size of the deal is known to be "a few million dollars."

"The government agreed with AstraZeneca to secure a supply of its coronavirus vaccine," a government official said, asking not to be identified. "Other relevant details will be released within this week, at the earliest possible date."

The official said the value of the deal would be equivalent to those the pharmaceutical company recently signed with Thailand and the Philippines.

Thailand signed a $200 million deal to procure 26 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine developed in collaboration with Oxford University. In the Philippines, more than 30 companies signed an agreement to buy at least 2.6 million doses from AstraZeneca, according to media reports. AstraZeneca was unavailable for comments.

Another government official said the government was in the "final stages" of fixing "some outstanding issues," such as guaranteed vaccine amount and total payment, as ruling and opposition lawmakers were negotiating on the amount of a third COVID-19 emergency relief funding package and what it should cover.

"The health ministry will take the central role ― government officials and health experts are on track to narrow their views over pricing and supply volume," the official said, adding that officials were working on how to prioritize vaccine recipients.

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said Korea was in a "critical phase" after new daily COVID-19 infections soared above the 400 threshold. Chung told the public that the government would secure 30 million vaccine doses, although ruling party lawmakers are asking relevant agencies to secure more.

On a related note, AstraZeneca signed a deal with Korea's non-listed SK Bioscience to manufacture its vaccine products. The collaboration calls for the SK affiliate to manufacture AZD1222 for local and global markets.

The drug constituents are now being produced at SK's vaccine manufacturing facility in Andong, 270 kilometers southeast of Seoul with SK's local contractors handling international distribution, according to SK Bioscience.

AZD1222, the result of collaboration between Oxford University and AstraZeneca, is drawing attention around the world because it was the first vaccine material to be given permission to conduct Phase 3 clinical trials.

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