Bill Gates backs South Korean firm for producing 200 mn vaccine doses by June 2021

Bill Gates, the principal founder of Microsoft Corporation, reportedly said that the South Korean pharmaceutical company SK Bioscience may be capable of producing 200 million coronavirus vaccine doses by June 2021. In a letter to South Korean President Moon Jae-in, Gates sought close cooperation with the Asian nation but the presidential office has not elaborated on it. 

In May, Gates Foundation provided $3.6 million to SK Bioscience to accelerate the development of coronavirus vaccines. Apart from developing its own vaccine, the pharma company has also taken the contract from AstraZeneca Plc to manufacture its vaccine AZD1222, which is currently undergoing a large-scale Phase III human trial.

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has donated millions of dollars for coronavirus vaccine and treatment research programmes. In February, the foundation pledged to donate $100 million to coronavirus vaccine research and treatment efforts and months later, it pledged additional $1.6 billion to the Gavi vaccine alliance, a public-private global health partnership with the goal of increasing access to immunisation in poor countries.

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Securing vaccines

Countries have started securing vaccine doses from pharmaceutical companies who have been licensed to produce potential vaccines. The United States signed a $1.95 billion deal with Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE to secure 100 million doses of BNT162, a COVID-19 vaccine candidate jointly developed by both the companies. 

Britain also secured early access to 90 million vaccine doses by signing separate deals with an alliance of Pfizer and Biotech, and French group Valneva. The UK government announced on July 20 that it has signed a binding agreement with BioNTech/Pfizer to secure 30 million doses of vaccine. However, a World Health Organisation (WHO) expert said that the first COVID-19 vaccinations cannot be expected until early 2021. 

“We’re making good progress...Realistically it is going to be the first part of next year before we start seeing people getting vaccinated,” said Mike Ryan, Executive Director of WHO Health Emergencies Programme.

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