China's Sinovac secures $500 mn investment, aims for 600 mn COVID-19 vaccine dose capacity

China’s Sinovac Biotech, on December 7, announced that it was planning to complete a new facility to double its annual vaccine production capacity to 600 million doses by the end of 2020. In addendum, the company also said that it had sought a $500 million investment for the development of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate. Including Sinovac vaccine, China currently has at least five vaccines undergoing late-phase trials across multiple countries across the globe.

"Sinovac expects to be able to manufacture 300 million doses annually and aims to complete the construction of a second production facility by the end of 2020 to increase the annual production capacity of CoronaVac to 600 million doses," the company said in a statement. 

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Final Phase trials

Sinovac vaccine candidate named CoronaVac- is currently undergoing last phase trials in multiple nations. With Indonesia being the latest addition, trials are ongoing in Chile, Turkey, and Brazil also. Last month, Brazilian trials were temporarily halted after a volunteer died. However, it was soon resumed after officials declared it a case of suicide and unrelated to the vaccine.

In a press release, Sinovac said that the company has acquired the $500 million investment a pharmaceutical conglomerate named Sino Biopharmaceutical Ltd., which bought a 15 per cent stake in Sinovac for the amount.

“We have made significant progress in the development of our COVID-19 vaccine candidate CoronaVac, which has reached critical milestones in clinical trials in Asia and Latin America. In addition to funding the CoronaVac, this new strategic partnership with Sino Biopharmaceutical Limited further enables us to improve our vaccine sales capabilities, expand in Asia markets, develop and access new technologies, and most importantly, accelerate our efforts to help combat the global pandemic," Weidong Yin, Chairman, President and CEO of Sinovac said after the deal.

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