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| SK Bioscience's vaccine production plant in Andong, North Gyeongsang Province / Captured from SK Bioscience website |
By Kim Bo-eun
Novavax CEO Stanley Erck is set to meet with President Moon Jae-in Tuesday, to discuss supply of the U.S. biotech firm's COVID-19 vaccine here.
Top executives of Novavax arrived on Monday in Korea to check on its vaccine production and discuss related issues with its contract manufacturer SK Bioscience and the government. The Novavax CEO will meet the President at Cheong Wa Dae for a meeting at 3 p.m., along with the trade and health ministers and officials of SK Bioscience, presidential spokeswoman Park Kyung-mee said in a written briefing to reporters.
The meeting is intended to address expanding cooperation with Novavax in vaccine production and speeding up the drug authority's approval of the vaccine, she said.
The government made a deal earlier with Novavax and the SK affiliate to secure 40 million doses of Novavax's COVID-19 vaccine for 20 million individuals. SK Bioscience contract-manufactures the vaccine, and as an in-licensing partner the company is also able to use Novavax's production technology.
President Moon discussed the supply of Novavax's vaccine here in an online meeting with the Novavax CEO in January. Of the 40 million doses, arrangements were made for 20 million doses to be supplied here by September.
Erck visited SK Bioscience's plant in Andong, North Gyeongsang Province, following his arrival.
"Executives and working-level officials of Novavax visited SK Bioscience's Andong plant to discuss the supply of materials needed for vaccine production and developments in the approval process," an SK Bioscience official said.
A meeting with the government's vaccine taskforce is also on Erck's itinerary. The government declined to confirm when the meeting would take place. The meeting would likely address details of the supply of the remaining 20 million doses.
Novavax's vaccine has yet to receive approval globally. The firm is set to apply for regulatory approval in the U.S. and Europe in May. An application for approval with local authorities is also set to be filed soon. The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said Monday it is in preliminary talks with Novavax over the approval of its vaccine. A preliminary review is set to follow.
Attention is growing over whether the latest visit by the Novavax CEO could speed up the approval process for vaccinations to be offered here.
Commercialization of the vaccine appears possible by June. This is a delay based on raw material supply issues that pushed back applications for regulatory approval.
Supply of the raw materials for vaccine production remains a pending issue for manufacturers, as local firms depend on imports such as from the U.S.
Korea is manufacturing vaccines for AstraZeneca, Novavax and Sputnik V. SK Bioscience is manufacturing vaccines for AstraZeneca and Novavax. SK Bioscience and Novavax signed a contract development and manufacturing deal in August last year.
The government said on Saturday it made an additional deal with Pfizer to import vaccines for 20 million individuals. With the latest deal, the government has secured enough vaccines from multiple global pharmaceutical firms to inoculate 99 million people. This means the 52 million population is able to get at least one type of vaccination. The government is seeking to achieve herd immunity by November.
