A wholly owned subsidiary of Pharmaniaga Berhad (Pharmaniaga), Pharmaniaga LifeScience Sdn Bhd (PLS) received the first batch of Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine bulk for the purpose of process validation (PV) batch manufacturing.
The 200-litre bulk equalling to 300,000 doses of vaccine, arrived in an envirotainer which preserves the vaccine temperature between 2 to 8 degree Celsius.
According to Minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation (MOSTI), Khairy Jamaluddin explained that 200 litres of the Sinovac vaccines is equal to 300,000 doses and Sinovac’s will be one dose per vial usage.
He added he will be taking the next approved vaccine by the NPRA either it is AstraZeneca, Sputnik or Sinovac and stressed that he will not will be taking the Pfizer vaccine to gain the people’s trust in the other vaccines.
“The PV batch manufacturing followed by stability study monitoring is critical to complete the registration application to ensure that vaccines are of equal quality even with the change in manufacturing sites from Sinovac to PLS,” Pharmaniaga Group Managing Director, Zulkarnain Md Eusope said.
Pharmaniaga and Sinovac have signed an agreement for Sinovac to supply in bulk 14 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine for PLS to conduct F&F manufacturing at its [Pharmaniaga] plant.
“In the long term, besides helping the nation to reduce dependency on imported vaccines, Pharmaniaga’s foray into vaccine ventures will help the government to reduce its yearly vaccine expenditure,” Zulkarnain added.
Witnessing the arrival of the vaccine at Advanced Cargo Centre were Senior Minister of Defence, Ismail Sabri Yaakob, Minister of Health, Adham Baba, Minister of Transport, Dr. Wee Ka Siong and Foreign Affairs Minister, Hishammuddin Tun Hussein.
Also present was the Chinese Ambassador to Malaysia, His Excellency, Ouyang Yujing.
“The delivery is made commercial by Pharmaniaga but it is also part of the government-to-government agreement between the Malaysian and the Chinese government.
It is reminded that the vaccine is received in bulk as the NPRA has not yet given the approval for the use of the vaccine thus we reassure the vaccines will go through certain stability testing for the safe usage for the people,” Khairy said.
“Several months ago, the Chinese government has been working closely together on the vaccine’s procurement, safety of vaccines, clinical trials, and the vaccine distribution. We have tried to quicken the process of the vaccines to arrive in Malaysia with the goodwill of their government,” Ouyang expressed.
The vaccines would be delivered via a special MASkargo flight and has arrived at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) at today [Feb 27].
