Malaysian company ramps up local fill-and-finish of China's Sinovac COVID-19 vaccines

KUALA LUMPUR, May 23 (Xinhua) -- Malaysian pharmaceutical company Pharmaniaga is ramping up local fill-and-finish of COVID-19 vaccines developed by Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac, a senior official said Sunday.

Defense Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said in a press conference that Pharmaniaga had completed the fill-and-finish process of 1,889,800 doses of Sinovac's CoronaVac vaccines and the production is ramping up to some two million doses per month.

"As of today, this factory has prepared 1.8 million doses of the locally filled and finished vaccine, and by the end of June another two million more doses will be prepared," he said after a visit to Pharmaniaga's facility.

Sinovac and Pharmaniaga in January signed an agreement for cooperation on the local fill-and-finish process for the COVID-19 vaccine, representing a milestone for Malaysia's pharmaceutical industry.

"I am proud for the first time our country has produced and manufactured vaccines for humans with the expertise and skills of local talents," said Ismail Sabri.

Both the finished products of Sinovac vaccines imported from China and the ones manufactured by Pharmaniaga have been used in Malaysia's national immunization program after receiving approval from the country's regulators.

Malaysia is currently rolling out its national COVID-19 immunization program in three phases: phase 1 for frontliners, phase 2 for high-risk groups and phase 3 for all adults aged 18 and above with the whole exercise expected to be completed by February next year.