GC Biopharma said on Monday that GCFlu Quadrivalent, a seasonal influenza vaccine that the Korean company licensed out to a Taiwanese biopharma firm, obtained approval from Taiwan Food and Drug Administration.

GC Biopharma said it was the largest seasonal flu vaccine supplier to the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) and UNICEF (UNICEF) under the WHO program and has supplied flu vaccines to 63 countries around the world.

In addition to the 23 countries where the vaccine is already licensed, GC Biopharma has now added Taiwan to the list. Cumulatively, GC Biopharma’s flu vaccine production exceeds 300 million doses, solidifying its position as an expert in the bioindustry.

In 2018, GC Biopharma transferred the vaccine technology to Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp. (MVC), a Taiwanese biopharmaceutical specializing in the mass production of vaccines and biologics. Accordingly, through local clinical trials, MVC confirmed the vaccine’s immunogenicity, safety, and equivalence to that of global manufacturers.

With the latest vaccine approval, GC Biopharma will now supply the undiluted flu vaccine solution to MVC, and the latter will manufacture the finished vaccine to establish a local production system. The flu vaccine market in Taiwan is estimated at approximately $50 million.

As part of GC Biopharma’s strategy to expand its market share in the global flu vaccine market, it plans to accelerate the localization of vaccine production starting with its entry into the Taiwanese market, said a company official.

"The goal is to build a global vaccine infrastructure based on the strong vaccine technology that has been accumulated for half a century," GC Biopharma CEO Huh Eun-chul said.