Solution Group Berhad has signed a finished product and a bulk product agreement today with CanSino Biologics for the supply of the Recombinant Ad5-nCoV vaccine for use against the COVID-19 virus.
The finished product agreement allows Solution Groups subsidiary Solution Biologics (SOLBIO) to purchase and supply as finish product vaccine for emergency use in Malaysia. Meanwhile, the bulk agreement will see CanSino Inc supply the active pharmaceutical ingredients for the fill and finish (“F&F”) to SOLBIO. Both agreements come with a period of ten years.
Accordingly the first shipment of the finished doses will be delivered by August, and the subsequent batches are also on schedule. The single dose vaccine makes it more quicker to administer, especially in rural and difficult-to-reach areas, which will result in savings in terms of logistics and other resources needed to be deployed for the nationwide vaccination programme.
Solution Group is under obligation to supply 3.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine to the Ministry of Health and will also accept additional orders from the Ministry, State Governments in Malaysia, the private sector, and other ASEAN countries. In addition, it would have the capacity to supply booster shots, should it be required for those who have been fully inoculated.
Deputy Group MD Dato Dr. Mohd Nazlee commented that with the supply agreement, the company is confident to fulfil the government’s current requirement and believes the supply of the vaccine known as Convidecia will help to boost the vaccination rate in Malaysia sharply to meet the government’s accelerated target of immunising the country’s entire population against by October.
Under the bulk product agreement the group will be able to F&F in Malaysia and supply to other countriies including the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Brunei, and Singapore. CanSino has given authorisation for regional distribution. It is currently in talks with Thailand and Philippines and is expecting an Emergency Use Approval (“EUA”) to take place in August targeting a 5 to 10 million doses supply to each country.”
Dato Dr. Mohd Nazlee added that the F&F facility at Technology Park Malaysia will start production next month and will be to produce up to 3 million doses monthly. Solution Group is currently awaiting for a GMP audit by NPRA.
CanSino has been approved for Emergency Use Authorisation in China, Chile, Mexico, Pakistan, Hungary, Ecuador and Argentina.