GC Biopharma said on Wednesday that its quadrivalent flu vaccine, GC FLU Quadrivalent inj., has been approved by the Egyptian Drug Authority (EDA), marking the company's first approval on the African continent. 

Egypt has one of the largest pharmaceutical markets in the African region, with the flu vaccine market estimated at $45 million in 2022.  GC Biopharma is the largest manufacturer of seasonal flu vaccines for the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the United Nations Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF), supplying flu vaccines to 63 countries worldwide.

GC FLU Quadrivalent inj. has been internationally recognized for its safety and efficacy based on its flu vaccine manufacturing technology, expanding the number of export countries and volumes annually.

The company plans to expand its global territory from the existing flu vaccine market centered on Southeast Asia and Latin America to the Africa-Middle East region based on the approval of this item in Egypt. 

"The trend of switching to quadrivalent influenza vaccines is expanding not only in the procurement market of international organizations but also in individual countries overseas," said a company official. "By simultaneously targeting the procurement market of international organizations and the private market of individual countries, we will draw synergies to increase sales and improve profitability." 

The flu vaccine market is divided into the international organization procurement market, which is represented by PAHO and UNICEF. The private market accounts for the remainder which supplies medicines after approval of the product by each country. 

The international procurement market has the advantage of being able to supply large quantities to the National Immunization Program (NIP) market while the private market offers marginal profitability as the supply price is set according to the market environment of each country. 

"We will continue to increase our global market share based on our vaccine technology and manufacturing capabilities that we have been producing and supplying vaccines for half a century," said GC Biopharma CEO Huh Eun-chul.