South Korea Negotiating With mRNA COVID-19 Vaccine Makers To Produce Up To 1B Doses: Reuters

  • South Korea is reportedly in talks with mRNA vaccine makers, including Pfizer Inc PFE and Moderna Inc MRNA, to produce COVID-19 shots in the country. 
  • The country is ready to offer the capacity to make up to 1 billion doses immediately, Reuters reports, citing a senior government official
  • The plan, if agreed, would help ease the crunched supply of the shots, particularly in Asia, which lags North America and Europe in vaccine rollouts. 
  • South Korea already has deals to locally produce three COVID-19 vaccines developed by Oxford University/AstraZeneca plc AZNNovavax Inc NVAX, and Russia. 
  • It also has a vaccine bottling and packaging deal with Moderna. 
  • "We've been holding frequent talks with big pharmaceutical companies to produce mRNA vaccines," Lee Kang-ho, director-general for the global vaccine hub committee under South Korea's health ministry, told Reuters in an interview. 
  • BioNTech SE BNTX declined to comment, Moderna and CureVac BV CVAC did not reply to Reuters' requests for comments. 
  • Lee declined to name local vaccine makers who can produce mRNA vaccines immediately. Still, a government source said they include Hanmi Pharmaceuticals Co Ltd and Quratis Co Ltd.
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