SK Bioscience, NovaVax vaccine for 20 million people domestic supply contract

Input 2021.02.16 11:57

Production quantity government buys… Supply plan from the second quarter

SK Bioscience announced on the 16th that it has signed a contract with NovaVax, a US biotechnology company, to supply 20 million people (40 million doses) of the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19) in Korea.

When SK Bioscience receives technology transfer from NovaVax and consigns a vaccine to a domestic factory, the KCDC purchases it and distributes it to medical institutions. The Agency for Disease Control and Prevention predicts that the vaccine will be available from the second quarter.

The NovaVax vaccine is made using a’synthetic antigen’ method that has been used in conventional flu (influenza), hepatitis B, and cervical cancer vaccines. It can be stored for 1~3 years even at room temperature of 2~8℃. This is why it is evaluated as having higher safety than the first messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccine like Pfizer and Modena.

The preventive effect confirmed in clinical trials was 89%. Although it was found to fall to 49-60% for mutant viruses originating in South Africa, it is still known to be a preventable level compared to the AstraZeneca vaccine, which drops sharply to 20%.

Ahn Jae-yong, CEO of SK Bioscience, said, “It is of great significance that we have taken the initiative to overcome the pandemic at the national level by securing the technology itself, not simply by purchasing the product.” I will work with the government.”