Which company signed the CMO deal? Rumors rampant

After the government’s announcement of a CMO deal for August, companies related to Moderna and SputnikV were mentioned as potential candidates

Samsung Biologics deny the “groundless” rumors about producing Pfizer vaccines

Rumors on CMO production of COVID-19 vaccines by domestic companies continue.

 

Rumors are rife on which company would be producing which vaccine.

 

Repeatedly, a specific company is mentioned by some, then the rumor is denied by that company.

 

On the 12th, Samsung Biologics publically announced that the reports that it will produce Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine through a CMO deal are “not true.” Earlier that day, a media had quoted a high-level government official to report that Samsung Biologics will be producing Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine from coming August under a CMO deal.

 

According to the report, Samsung Biologics was revamping production lines at its Incheon Songdo plant to produce up to 1 billion doses of the vaccine per year.

 

Samsung Biologics immediately drew the line.

 

Through a public announcement on clarification of the rumors and reports, the company said that the reports were “not true.” Despite the company’s denial, the rumors have not ceased to exist.

 

After Samsung Biologics publicly denied the report, another media reported that ‘Samsung Biologics is in discussions about producing Pfizer’s vaccine under a CMO deal.’ Only the wording had changed, from ‘signed a CMO deal,’ to ‘discussing a CMO deal,' with its context still intact.

 

Regarding the issue, Pfizer Korea’s position is the same as Samsung Biologic’s.

 

An official from Pfizer Korea said that “(The CMO deal) is not true.” ◆Rumors rife after the government’s announcement of a “domestic CMO producing vaccines in August” The unceasing rumors about COVID-19 vaccine production by domestic companies have been on the increase since the government made the remark of a ‘Korean CMO’s production of COVID-19 vaccines from August.” On the 15th of last month, Young-Ha Baek, head of vaccine procurement at the pan-government vaccine procurement task force, said that “A Korean pharmaceutical company is currently working on a contract manufacturing organization (CMO) deal to produce a COVID-19 vaccine that has been developed abroad.

 

The vaccine will be manufactured in Korea from August.” The remark had aroused a great amount of interest.

 

The report also coincided with Moderna’s announcement of its plan to establish a Korean subsidiary.

 

This immediately brought up several companies as potential candidates.

 

Among the companies, ST Pharm received the most attention.

 

The rumor gained strength as the company had been working to develop an mRNA technology of its own since last year.

 

ST Pharm denied the rumors, however still, this led to an incident where the stock prices of ST Pharm and other mRNA R&D companies surged.

 

The next day, speculations on whether the company and vaccine mentioned by the government were Huons and the Russian vaccine Sputnik V rose as Huons Global announced that it had formed a consortium with Prestige Biopharma, Humedix, etc.

 

and signed a technology transfer deal to produce the global supply of the Sputnik V vaccine.

 

As the rumor spread as if it was an established fact, the government stepped up to correct the rumor.

 

Young-rae Son, director of the Central Disaster Management Headquarters (CDMH) strategy and planning team said, “We cannot disclose which vaccine was commissioned for production, but it is not Sputnik V.”

On April 16th, Young-rae Son, director of the Central Disaster Management Headquarters (CDMH) strategy and planning team, is explaining that the commissioned vaccine to be developed in August is not Sputnik V.

And earlier this month, Moderna’s progress in establishing its Korean subsidiary once again stirred up rumors on the CMO production of vaccines in August.

 

Officials from Moderna had visited a Korean pharmaceutical company prior to the establishment of its subsidiary, which gave leeway for speculations on which companies may be candidates of the CMO deal.

 

More recently, not Moerna’s or Pfizer’s, but another vaccine also entered the discussion.

 

This new vaccine was jointly produced by GSK and CureVac.

 

CureVac had submitted an application for the authorization of its mRNA vaccine to the European Medicine Agency (EMA) after completing the Phase III trial.

 

With the approval of a third mRNA vaccine imminent in Europe, some had raised the prospect that this vaccine is the one that will be produced under a CMO deal in Korea.

 

However, whether speculations on CureVac’s production in Korea is true or not has not been determined yet.

 

An industry official said, “You hear rumors about the CMO deal all day.

 

Investors are immensely interested in which company will be producing the COVID-19 vaccines.

 

As the rumors started due to the government’s announcement, I believe the government needs to sort out its position to some extent, to reduce confusion."