Pharmaniaga’s shares jumped to an intra-day high of RM5.54 on Wednesday, June 16, 2021, before closing 18 sen, or 3.5%, higher at RM5.34. The trigger was a statement issued after the company’s virtual shareholders meeting: Pharmaniaga Bhd would start supplying the Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine to state governments and the private sector.
Group managing director Datuk Zulkarnain Md Eusope said the first targets are economic frontliners at government-linked companies and private firms, plus foreign workers and expatriates. States that want to speed up their own immunisation programmes can buy too. “We will ensure an effective provision and distribution of the Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine doses supply to the private market and state governments, and it will not disrupt our existing contractual obligation with the Federal Government,” he said.
The federal order comes first
That obligation is 12 million doses, due by July, enough for some 18% of Malaysia’s population, and the company called it a priority. The groundwork had been laid earlier. On June 1, at the Pharmaniaga LifeScience factory, Senior Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the company expected to supply seven million doses outside government channels: three million requested by state governments and four million for the private sector and GLCs. Health Minister Dr Adham Baba said the national programme and the state and industry efforts would run side by side, and that two million doses had already gone out in May with another five million to come across June and July. Filling and bottling the vaccine locally, he added, could save government money and speed up supply.
Capacity and the longer plan
Output is the constraint. Zulkarnain said Pharmaniaga will file papers with the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency for a variation covering the two-dose vial. Once approved, capacity can rise from two million doses a month to four million. He also noted that the World Health Organisation had recently approved the vaccine.
Beyond Sinovac, he said plans for what he called the world’s first Halal vaccine facility are moving along with the Malaysian Investment Development Authority and Halal Development Corporation Berhad. The target is to start operating in 2024.
Sources
- Pharmaniaga embarks on plan to supply Sinovac to state govt, private sector
- 7mil Sinovac doses for state governments, private sector
