International General: International: News: Hankyoreh

There are four pharmaceutical companies that the Korean government has signed or promised to buy or sell for the COVID-19 vaccine so far: AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Janssen, and Modena. Among them, AstraZeneca, Pfizer, and Janssen have signed contracts, and Modena is still in discussion. In addition, the government has signed an agreement with COVAX Facility, an international vaccine co-purchase and distribution organization. Kovacs is not a producer, but a kind of intermediary, and it is known that the Korean government has proposed three products: AstraZeneca, Pfizer, and Sanofi. In the end, there are five pharmaceutical companies that South Korea will purchase vaccines, including Sanofi, AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Janssen, and Modena.

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AstraZeneca, UK’approved’ US and EU’opaque’ Korea’?’

Earlier this month, the government announced that it had secured a total of 44 million vaccines from AstraZeneca, Modena, Pfizer, Janssen, and Kovacs. It aims to be introduced in the first quarter of next year with 10 million people (20 million batches) in total. As it is the only contract case, it is receiving great attention from the Korean government and the media. Until last month, AstraZeneca was mentioned as a so-called’game changer’ that will play a big role in ending the Corona 19 crisis due to its low price and convenience of distribution. However, the current situation is not easy.

In the UK, where AstraZeneca is headquartered, it is approved for emergency use on the 30th and is expected to be vaccinated on the 4th of next month, but the approval process is having difficulties with the US and European Union (EU) health authorities, which are recognized for authority. In the United States, the third phase of clinical trials in September caused distrust of the authorities due to delayed reports, which delayed phase III. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is in a position that it will take a considerable amount of time to approve it, as the results of Phase 3 must be obtained. The European Union also shows no confidence in AstraZeneca. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) recently said, “AstraZeneca provided only clinical information on the vaccine to the European Medicines Agency. This information is not enough to grant approval for the sale,” he said, and has not yet submitted a formal application for approval. The European Union’s AstraZeneca vaccine approval is expected to be difficult to reach within January next year. The Korean government is in the position that drug approval can be independently reviewed and approved as each country decides independently. The British approval is also a good sign. However, some point out that it may be burdensome for Korea to approve vaccines that have not been approved by the European Union, which is the world’s most trusted US and 27 countries.

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Pfizer sure, only in the third quarter of next year… Janssen, not yet approved.

On the 23rd, the government signed a purchase contract with Pfizer and Janssen. It is worth 10 million and 6 million, respectively. The Pfizer vaccine was approved by the UK for the first time in the world earlier this month, followed by more than 40 countries around the world including the United States and the European Union. US President-elect Joe Biden also publicly vaccinated the vaccine. It seems to be the most reliable so far, but it is expected that the domestic introduction period should be in the third quarter. This is because they signed the contract relatively later than other countries. Prime Minister Jeong Sye-gyun also recently said, “It is difficult to obtain supply of Pfizer, Janssen and Modena vaccines in the first quarter of next year.” Unlike other vaccines, the Corona 19 vaccine developed by Janssen, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, is a big advantage that it only needs to be given once. Vaccines can be stored at 2-8 degrees of video. However, Janssen has not yet completed the vaccine development and has not received approval. US authorities expected Janssen to apply for approval in January of next year. “The vaccine candidate Janssen is developing will request approval for emergency use in January of next year,” said Brett Giroer, assistant secretary of the US Department of Health, on a broadcast on the 20th. Janssen appears to have almost completed phase 3 clinical trials. In the case of Pfizer, the third phase result was announced on November 9, and the first approval was obtained in the UK on December 2, 20 days later. In light of this process, it will take over a month for Janssen to get approval. Janssen applied for a preliminary review of the vaccine to the Korea Food and Drug Administration on the 22nd. The government aims to introduce the Janssen vaccine in the second quarter of next year.

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Modena promises to be introduced in the second quarter… I can’t get a contract yet

The US pharmaceutical company Modena’s vaccine has been approved by two countries, the US and Canada. It is currently being vaccinated by Modena vaccine in the United States, and Vice-President-elect Camela Harris recently released the company’s vaccine. The European Union, Canada, and Singapore have signed a vaccine purchase contract with Modena and are rushing to approve it. Korea has yet to sign a purchase contract. In the first place, South Korea was expected to be able to supply 10 million people with Modena vaccine in the third quarter of next year, but the situation changed with President Moon Jae-in. On the evening of the 28th, President Moon made a direct video call with Stefan Bangsel Modena, CEO, and agreed to supply 20 million vaccines within two quarters. From ’10 million people from the third quarter’ to ’20 million people from the second quarter’. However, the final contract has not yet been reached, so the actual results must be observed. The Blue House said it hopes to sign a contract within this month. Some media reported that the credibility of the Blue House announcement was questioned, citing the fact that’the actual results may be different’ in the press releases released by Modena, and the contents are common in a number of press releases distributed by Modena. It was confirmed to be.

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Cobax’Opaque’… 3rd Candidate Nova Bax’Now 3rd Prize’

As an international organization for the purpose of joint purchase and distribution of vaccines, COVAX, which is a member of 190 countries around the world, signed an agreement last October to supply 10 million vaccines to Korea. The government announced in November that it had received a proposal from Kovacs that it could provide vaccines for AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Sanofi. The introduction point is aimed at the first quarter of next year. However, the government has not been given a concrete answer, and the current situation is not so positive. Due to a problem with the vaccine developed by Sanofi, a leading French pharmaceutical company, with Glaxos Miscline (GSK) in the UK, development is expected to be significantly delayed. This is the reason that the immune response was insufficient among adults over 50 years of age as a result of clinical phase 1 and 2. Sanofi expects to be able to release the product in the fourth quarter of next year. Pfizer, one of the other candidates for COVAX, is not included in the list of pharmaceutical companies in the press release of’Covax Secures 2 Billion Vaccines’ by the World Health Organization (WHO) on the 18th. In this press release, AstraZeneca, NovaVax, Sanapi, Janssen and others have made a total of 2 billion vaccine transactions with Kovax. Pfizer is not even on the list of cooperative pharmaceutical companies disclosed by Kovacs. Pfizer was reported to be discussing the vaccine offering with COVAX in November, but there seems to be no progress yet. In the end, it seems that AstraZeneca is the most dominant company among the three candidates Kovacx mentioned. AstraZeneca is currently approved by the British government, and approval by the United States and the European Union is expected to be delayed. In addition to the five pharmaceutical companies reviewed previously, the Korean government recently announced that it is negotiating with the US pharmaceutical company NovaVax. NovaVax entered phase 3 clinical trials in the United States on the 28th. Phase 3 will take at least several months, and approval is likely to take considerable time. By Choi Hyun-jun, staff reporter [email protected]