BioNTech to provide 100M COVID-19 vaccines to China

By Busra Nur Bilgic Cakmak

ANKARA (AA) – BioNTech on Wednesday announced it will supply 100 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine to China as part of an agreement with Chinese pharmaceutical company Shanghai Fosun.

BioNTech will deliver initial supply of the mRNA-based vaccine from its production facilities in Germany, the company said in a statement.

BioNTech and Fosun Pharma in March 2020 announced a collaboration to develop and commercialize a potential COVID-19 vaccine based on BioNTech’s mRNA technology platform.

On Nov. 24, the companies announced the start of Phase 2 trial of the vaccine in China.

“We would like to thank the Chinese government and National Medical Products Administration for their commitment and trust in our vaccine development efforts to help address this global pandemic threat,” said Ugur Sahin, CEO and co-founder of BioNTech, in the statement.

“This joint development effort with Fosun Pharma is a testament to the importance of global cooperation and reflects our strategy to supply our vaccine globally. This agreement is an important step toward our shared goal of bringing a safe and efficacious vaccine to people worldwide.”​​​​​​​

Developed in Germany, BioNTech and Pfizer’s vaccine had already received emergency use authorization in the US and the UK, and the two countries have started vaccinating priority population groups.