Pharmaniaga, Duopharma to supply 18.4m doses of vaccines

Pharmaniaga, Duopharma in term sheet deals with government.

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia has secured deals to acquire 18.4 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines through Pharmaniaga Bhd and Duopharma Biotech Bhd.

In separate announcements, Pharmaniaga said it would be supplying 12 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines developed by China’s Sinovac Life Sciences Co Ltd, while Duopharma said it would supply 6.4 million doses of Sputnik V developed by Russia’s Gamaleya Research Institute to the government.

Both companies yesterday said they had entered into a term sheet agreements to supply the Covid-19 vaccines to the Health Ministry.

Pharmaniaga said it would begin manufacturing Sinovac Covid-19 vaccines in February and will deliver the bottled vaccines to identified hospitals and other healthcare facilities nationwide by April 2021.

Pharmaniaga’s unit, Pharmaniaga Lifescience Sdn Bhd, signed a one-year term sheet agreement with the government – represented by the Health Ministry – for the purchase and distribution of 12 million Covid-19 vaccine doses.

Pharmaniaga Lifescience, which has submitted an application to the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency on Jan 19 for the registration of the vaccine, will carry out the fill and finish of the vaccine into vials. The vaccine is developed by China’s Sinovac Life Sciences Co Ltd.

“The agreement and collaboration contemplated therein will serve as a platform for Pharmaniaga to further strengthen its vaccine business and grow the sector in Malaysia.

“It will also provide Pharmaniaga another income stream which will contribute to the profitability of the company in the future, ” it said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia yesterday.

Separately, Duopharma said the supply of 6.4 million doses of “Sputnik V” is subject to the vaccine being approved by the Drug Control Authority Malaysia through technical evaluation by the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency.

Duopharma told Bursa Malaysia that it has signed two separate term sheet agreements for the project.

The first is with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) to secure the 6.4 million doses of Sputnik V.

The second term-sheet agreement was with the Health Ministry to supply 6.4 million doses to vaccinate 3.2 million Malaysians.

“The supply of the Sputnik V vaccine will be in phases over a period within 2021, ” Duopharma said.

Apart from the relevant approvals, Duopharma said the supply contract is also subject to the execution of the definitive supply agreements with RDIF, as well as with the Health Ministry.

Duopharma noted that Sputnik V, developed by Russia’s Gamaleya National Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, is the world’s first registered vaccine based on a well-studied human adenoviral vector-based platform.

Duopharma said RDIF and Gamaleya Institute are also exploring towards further collaboration to enhance Duopharma’s capabilities in research and development, technology transfer, local manufacturing as well as supply of the vaccine to Malaysia and other Asean countries.