The main contract for the consignment production (CMO) of Russia’s Corona 19 vaccine’Sputnik V’is signed early next month. It has been confirmed that Binex and Isu Abgis have already entered the process of technology transfer for the production of Sputnik V vaccine.
According to the bio industry on the 8th, Binex and Isu Abgis are planning to sign a technology transfer contract with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) for the development of Sputnik V vaccine this month. At the beginning of next month, the contract is signed by confirming the specific production volume, production period, and sales amount. A down payment is expected to be paid upon signing the main contract. An industry insider said, “Last month, Russian officials have communicated their intention to sign the final contract through domestic factory tours and interviews with key company officials.” Said.
Sputnik V is a’viral vector’ vaccine. It induces an immune response by injecting the corona 19 antigen gene into an adenovirus that is harmless to the human body. RDIF, the main body of vaccine development, requested an emergency use permit from the World Health Organization (WHO) in December of last year.
On the 6th, Russian health minister Mikhail Murashko and World Health Organization (WHO) secretary general Tewardros Adhanom Gobrersus (WHO) discussed the approval of emergency use in front of commercialization. SK Bioscience has been producing the Oxford University-AstraZeneca vaccine in this manner since last September.
The industry is predicting that Binex, a CMO company, will benefit the most through this contract. The plant in Osong, Chungbuk, which Binex started operating in earnest last year, has a total production (culture amount) of 5000L. It has the largest capacity among domestic companies that consign Russian vaccines. Binex is expected to be positive in the sense that it gains experience in receiving vaccine CMO orders in a situation where there is a shortage of vaccine production facilities worldwide.
Binex reportedly suggested that about 20 to 30 batches (the whole process unit for culturing and purifying biopharmaceuticals) could be used for vaccine production. The average selling price per batch ranges from 3 billion to 5 billion won. Sales of up to 150 billion won can be generated from Russian vaccine production.
Isu Abgis plans to use hundreds of L incubators. The Korea Chorus side is not revealing the exact size of the culture medium. In the industry, the operating margin of the vaccine CMO business is expected to be around 50%. From the second half of last year, the U.S. Immergent Biosolution, whose sales were reflected in the COVID-19 vaccine CMO division, recorded an operating margin of 62% in this division.
The company produces AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine. Cataland, a U.S. CMO specialty company, also recorded an operating margin of more than 50% in the Corona 19 vaccine. Since last year, Catalan has been producing vaccines from five companies, including AstraZeneca and Modena.
Reporter Kim Woo-seop [email protected]
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