GC said Thursday it has secured a $35.7 million contract to supply influenza vaccine to Latin America from Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).

With the contract, GC has further strengthened its position in the Latin American market with the cumulative exports of its influenza vaccines after surpassing the $200 million mark in 2017, holding on to the number one spot for six consecutive years.

“The contract is also significant as it marks the first time that a locally developed quadrivalent influenza vaccine will be supplied to the PAHO market,” the company said. “Twenty percent of the contract is for our quadrivalent influenza vaccine, which is meaningful in an international procurement market mainly dominated by trivalent flu vaccines.”

The achievement was possible as the company quickly made preparations to export its quadrivalent flu vaccine based on its successful export of trivalent flu vaccines, the company added.

Also, as the transition from trivalent to the quadrivalent vaccine is expanding from developed countries to the global market, including Latin America, the company expects that it will be able to increase its exports on the occasion of the PAHO contract.

“Our profitability is also likely to increase as the price of quadrivalent influenza vaccine is higher than that of the trivalent vaccine,” said Lee Woo-jin, head of GC’s overseas business. “The company plans to expand its global market share by expanding into new markets.”