The Samsung logo is displayed at the Samsung Electronics Seocho office building in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo = Newsis
The full support of Samsung Electronics, a conglomerate, played a part in the background of a Korean small and medium-sized company developing a’corona 19-only syringe’, the last key to vaccination against Corona 19, ahead of Japan. It is reported that Samsung Electronics played a large role in the process of securing the corona19 vaccine from Pfizer, a US pharmaceutical company.
According to the government and industry on the 18th, Poonglim Pharmatech, a medical device manufacturer, developed a syringe for the Corona 19 vaccine with the help of Samsung Electronics last month with the help of Samsung Electronics. The corona syringe made by this company was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on the 17th, opening the way for overseas exports to the U.S. and Europe.
Samsung puts 30 experts… Poonglim develops a syringe in a month
It was at the end of last year that Poonglim Pharmatech began developing a’corona 19 dedicated syringe’. In general syringes, when a drug is administered, a part of the drug solution remains between the microscopic spaces between the gaps in the syringe and must be discarded. By minimizing the amount of vaccine remaining in the syringe, the number of injections that can be injected with a single vaccine bottle increases by that amount.
As the supply of the Corona 19 vaccine is in short supply, the industry has also reduced the need to develop a syringe for Corona. However, due to the circumstances of small and medium-sized enterprises, the conditions for product production did not follow.
At this time, the collaboration between the Small and Medium Venture Business Department and Samsung Electronics came to Poonglim Pharmatech as a decisive helper. Upon receiving a request for cooperation from the Ministry of Medium and Medium Business, Samsung Electronics immediately put 30 in-house manufacturing experts into Poonglim Pharmatech to do the design and mold work necessary for the production of a’corona 19 dedicated syringe’. Mold is a kind of mold for mass production of products like Taiyaki mold. With the help of Samsung Electronics, Poonglim Pharmatech created a special syringe (ordinary syringe is 5 times) that can administer up to 6 doses of one vaccine bottle in one month.
“Samsung has requested a vaccine from Pfizer”
Thanks to the rapid development of a dedicated syringe, the government was able to take a step closer to securing the Corona 19 vaccine from Pfizer in the United States. A high-ranking government official said, “At the end of last year, Samsung Electronics emphasized that Pfizer could get the vaccine more expensive if using a special syringe, and asked Korea to provide the remaining vaccine in exchange for supplying the special syringe to the US first.”
At Pfizer, if you use a special syringe, you can increase the dose from one bottle of vaccine made in 5 doses, which makes it easier to increase the price. In fact, Pfizer later changed the standard of inoculation per bottle from 5 doses to 6 doses. The government secured 3.5 million vaccines from Pfizer, and it is the government’s judgment that Samsung Electronics’ contribution was not small in this process.
The photo shows Pfizer-Bioentech’s Corona 19 vaccine taken in Paris, France on January 18th. Photo = Yonhap News
The country that suffered unexpected damage from this was Japan. Japan signed a vaccine contract with Pfizer ahead of us, but was in danger of discarding about 12 million out of 72 million vaccines because it could not secure a special syringe. According to Poonglim Pharmatech, a request has been received from Japan to supply 80 million corona syringes.
In addition to this corona syringe, Samsung Electronics supported 20 small and medium-sized businesses that produce masks, diagnostic kits, eye protection, and hand sanitizers, which are essential items for quarantine last year. When the mask upheaval occurred last year, it mobilized a high-tech mold center in Gwangju to make the molds necessary for mass production of masks, and it laid the foundation for increasing the supply of masks by connecting mask companies with competent domestic mold companies.
A Samsung Electronics official said, “We will actively support small and medium-sized businesses that make supplies necessary to overcome Corona 19 in consultation with the government in the future.”
Kim Dong-wook reporter [email protected]
Shin Eun-byul reporter [email protected]
News directly edited by the Hankook Ilbo can also be viewed on Naver.
