EuBiologics said it signed an MOU with Arabio, a Saudi Arabian biotech firm, to supply its Covid-19 vaccine EuCorVac-19 and meningococcal vaccine Eu-MCV to Saudi Arabia.
Arabio is a major biopharmaceutical firm in six countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). It partners with multinational pharmaceutical firms such as GSK, Novartis, Sanofi, and Johnson & Johnson. The company exports biopharmaceutical products to 15 countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).
EuBiologics said it signed the MOU with Arabio because the Saudi Arabian company highly evaluated EuBiologics’ vaccine platform, EuCorVac-19’s safety, the convenience of distribution, and price.
The two companies also decided to cooperate in local production through technology transfer in the future.
“During the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, more than 2 million people gather, and they have to get meningococcal vaccines mandatorily. So, Saudi Arabia is one of the largest markets for meningococcal vaccines,” an official at EuBiologics said.
The MOU for EuCorVac-19 and Eu-MCV helped EuBiologics not only gain external recognition of the company’s product competitiveness but secure major business clients in the Middle East, the official said.
EuBiologics is in talks with many developing and middle-income countries and the Philippines and Saudi Arabia for EuCorVac-19 supply, and the company will do its utmost to release EuCorVac-19 successfully secure clients, he added.
EuBiologics recently submitted to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety a plan for a local phase 3 trial of EuCorVac-19. In addition, the company is analyzing results from the local phase 2 study.
On Dec. 14, EuBiologics agreed with BioNote to develop an Omicron-targeting Covid-19 vaccine and said it would start an animal test this month to evaluate efficacy.
EuBiologics’ new vaccine to fight Omicron will replace the antigen of the old vaccine only under the same platform, according to the EMA’s guidelines for variant-targeting vaccine development, the company said.
“This vaccine can be exempt from non-clinical trials, or clinical stages can be shortened. At the earliest, we may be able to finish trials in the first half of 2022,” the company said.