Two consortia of Korean pharmaceutical companies said Friday they have agreed to make more than a billion doses of the Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine developed by Russia's Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology.
A consortium formed by Hankook Korus, which includes GL Rapha, Chong Kun Dang Bio, Binex, Isu Abxis, Humedix, Quratis and Animal Cell Culture Substantiation Center, recently accepted Russian Direct Investment Fund's request and agreed to manufacture about 1.3 billion Sputnik V vaccines, which can immunize 650 million people.
According to GL Rapha, Hankook Korus and Binex will make drug substances (DS) and drug products (DP). Isu Abxis and Animal Cell Culture Substantiation Center will manufacture DS, and the rest will make DP.
However, the exact number of products assigned to each company has not been decided yet.
"We are in a pilot stage of manufacturing the vaccine at Hankook Korus' Chuncheon plant,” an Isu Abxis official said. “We will decide the total volume after confirming possible production unit starting later this month."
The Russian Direct Investment Fund made another contract manufacturing deal with another Korean consortium.
Huons Global formed the consortium along with Prestige Biopharma, Humedix, and Boran Pharma to receive the technology from Russia's sovereign wealth fund and begin to pilot Sputnik V's production in August.
"Although we cannot disclose the specific manufacturing amount due to confidentiality, the four companies with world-class production capacity, facilities, and quality control have agreed and formed a consortium to satisfy RDIF's request," Huons Global official said.
Sputnik V, developed with RDIF's funding, showed 91.6 percent efficacy in phase 3 clinical trials and won approval for the vaccine for Covid-19 in August last year for the first time in the world. The study results were published in the international medical journal Lancet in February.
About 60 countries, including Russia, United Arab Emirates, Iran, Argentina, Algeria, and Hungary, have approved Sputnik V for preventing Covid-19 infection, and the European Union (EU) also began rolling review in early March.
According to industry officials, however, these deals have nothing to do with a government official's remark on Thursday that a Korean pharmaceutical company is on the verge of signing a contract manufacturing organization (CMO) agreement with a foreign vaccine developer.
Korea has yet to decide to secure the vaccine. However, the government previously revealed that the health authorities would consider starting the review of Sputnik. That means the entire amount of the Sputnik V vaccines made in Korea will be exported, at least for the time being, according to the industry officials.