越南公司與日本 Shionogi 就 COVID-19 疫苗技術轉讓達成協議 - 媒體

Recently Yahoo New on-line reported the following:

Vietnam companies agree COVID-19 vaccine tech transfer with Japan's Shionogi - media

Tue., July 27, 2021, 2:22 a.m.

HANOI (Reuters) -Vietnamese firms AIC and Vabiotech have signed a deal with Japan's Shionogi & Co to produce COVID-19 vaccines based on recombinant DNA protein technology, a health ministry official told local media outlet VnExpress on Tuesday.

After successfully containing the virus for much of the pandemic, Vietnam has been facing record daily surges of infections since an outbreak which emerged in late April.

The government has imposed strict curbs on movement in about a third of the Southeast Asian nation, including the commercial hub of Ho Chi Minh City and the capital, Hanoi.

The deal between the Japanese and Vietnamese firms was subject to a confidentiality agreement, but would be based on the local production of recombinant protein-based vaccines, health ministry official Nguyen Ngo Quang told VnExpress.

In a statement released by the government later, the transfer is expected to be completed by June next year.

Both Shionogi and AIC did not immediately respond to requests from Reuters for comment on the deal.

A source at Vabiotech confirmed the company was in talks with Japan's Shionogi but refused to give more details, citing the confidentially agreement. Last week, Vabiotech said it had produced its first test batch of Sputnik V vaccines which it said would be shipped to Russia for quality checks.

In May, Shionogi said it may start supplying COVID-19 vaccines later this year.

Vietnam's COVID-19 numbers have surpassed 6,000 infections a day for the past week. The current outbreak has increased pressure on the government to shore-up its vaccine supply and seek technology transfer deals globally.

Last week, Vietnam said it was in talks with the United States on the domestic production of messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines.

The government expects a homegrown Nanocovax vaccine, developed on the same protein-based recombinant DNA technology, to be available for domestic use by the end of 2021.

Vietnam reported 7,913 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, raising its total infections since the start of the pandemic to 114,260. Around 423,000 people have been fully vaccinate, according to official data.

(Editing by James Pearson, Editing by Louise Heavens)

Translation

河內（路透社）- 越南衛生部官員周二告訴當地媒體 VnExpress，越南公司 AIC 和 Vabiotech 已與日本的 Shionogi & Co 簽署了一項協議，以生產基於重組 DNA 蛋白技術的 COVID-19 疫苗。

越南在大部分時間裡成功控制了病毒大流行之後，自 4 月下旬以來，一直面臨著創紀錄的每日感染激增爆發。

這個東南亞國家政府, 在其約三分之一的地區實施了嚴格的行動限制，包括胡志明市的商業中心和首都河內。

衛生部官員 Nguyen Ngo Quang 告訴 VnExpress，日本和越南公司之間的交易是受保密協議的約束，但將是關於重組蛋白疫苗的本地生產。

在政府隨後發布的一份聲明中，技術轉移預計將在明年 6 月完成。

Shionogi 和 AIC 都沒有立即回應路透社的請求, 對協議發表評論。

Vabiotech 的一位消息人士證實，該公司正在與日本的 Shionogi 進行談判，但以保密協議為由拒絕提供更多細節。上週，Vabiotech 表示已生產出第一批測試批次的 Sputnik V 疫苗，並表示將運往俄羅斯進行質量檢查。

今年 5 月，Shionogi表示，它可能會在今年晚些時候開始供應 COVID-19 疫苗。

過去一周，越南每天的 COVID-19 感染人數已超過 6,000 人。當前的爆發增加了政府對疫苗供應和尋求全球技術轉移交易的壓力。

上週，越南表示正在與美國就RNA（mRNA）疫苗的國內生產進行談判。

政府預計，一種基於同樣的蛋白質重組 DNA 技術開發的本土 Nanocovax 疫苗將在 2021 年底前在國內使用。

越南周二報告了 7,913 例新的 COVID-19 病例，使自病毒大流行開始以來的總感染人數增加到 114,260。根據官方數據，大約有 423,000 人已完全接種疫苗。

              So, Vietnam is expecting its locally made Nanocovax vaccine, developed on the same protein-based recombinant DNA technology and would be made available by the end of 2021. It seems that Vietnam could become a popular Covid-19 vaccine production country soon.