Malaysian pharmaceutical company to produce COVID-19 adenoviral vector vaccine with Chinese technology

Photo shows the test run of the "fill and finish" process for CanSino vaccine at Solution Biologics factory in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Sept. 8, 2021. Chinese company CanSino Biologics has helped Malaysia cross another milestone in vaccine manufacturing, this time by transferring technology to enable the local "fill and finish" of the COVID-19 vaccine based on the adenovirus platform. Malaysian pharmaceutical company Solution Biologics deputy group managing director Mohd Nazlee Kamal told Xinhua that close and friendly cooperation with CanSino has made the venture possible. (Photo by Chong Voon Chung/Xinhua)

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- Chinese company CanSino Biologics has helped Malaysia cross another milestone in vaccine manufacturing, this time by transferring technology to enable the local "fill and finish" of the COVID-19 vaccine based on the adenovirus platform.

Malaysian pharmaceutical company Solution Biologics deputy group managing director Mohd Nazlee Kamal told Xinhua that close and friendly cooperation with CanSino has made the venture possible.

Solution Biologics has secured a contract from the Malaysian government to supply some 3.5 million doses of the single-dose COVID-19 vaccine developed by CanSino comprising half a million doses of finished product from its plant in Tianjin, China and the remainder delivered in bulk to be filled and finished in Malaysia.

Approval has been given by the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency for the Convidecia Recombinant Novel Coronavirus Vaccine (Adenovirus Type 5 Vector) developed by the CanSino, with the finished product already in use, while the local "fill and finish" products are expected to be ready before the year's end.

Mohd Nazlee said the single-dose vaccine has unique advantages especially for the use in communities in rural and isolated areas of the Southeast Asian country, and that it allows related authorities to better use limited resources.

He noted that "our vaccine will just spot on in terms of delivering the solution to vaccinate the people in a single shot," sparing the second hard trip for people in those areas to take a second jab.