AstraZeneca Signs Licensing Deal with China’s BioKangtai for 100 Million Doses of Oxford COVID-19 Vaccine by Year End

AstraZeneca (Cambridgeshire, England) has signed a licensing deal with Chinese firm BioKangtai (Guangdong, Chin) to supply its adenovirus vector-based COVID-19 vaccine candidate, AZD1222, developed by the University of Oxford (Oxford, UK), to China.

AstraZeneca announced the deal in a Chinese social media post and also stated that both the companies would explore the possibility of producing the vaccine for other markets as well, according to a FiercePharma report.

BioKangtai, a Chinese vaccine company, already produces a recombinant hepatitis B vaccine (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), an influenza type b conjugate vaccine and vaccines for measles and rubella. The company’s attenuated vaccines include a cell-free white-breaking Haemophilus influenzae type b combined vaccine, and 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine, among others.

As per the deal, AstraZeneca has granted exclusive clinical development, production and commercialization rights to the vaccine in China to BioKangtai, which will maintain sufficient capacity to produce a minimum of 100 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine by 2020 end and increase its production to 200 million doses per year by the end of 2021. Overall, AstraZeneca aims to produce two billion doses of the vaccine globally by the end of 2021.

Related Links:

AstraZeneca
BioKangtai
University of Oxford